


Opposites Attract

by babydolljones1104



Series: The Westons [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, First Love, First Relationship, Opposites Attract, POV First Person, Present Tense, Science Fiction, Self-Discovery, Stranger Things 2, bad boy, nerd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:14:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 26,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24225676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babydolljones1104/pseuds/babydolljones1104
Summary: Vivian Weston is your typical nerd. She skipped a grade and still manages to get straight A's. Even as a junior, she already has the top law schools in the country showing interest in her. Vivian is a good girl who doesn't go to parties, doesn't drink or do drugs, and who stays out of trouble.In other words, Vivian is the complete opposite of Billy Hargrove, who just moved to Hawkins from California. So, when Vivian's history teacher assigns Billy as her partner on their semester project, Vivian can't help but be annoyed. And even though Vivian insists that she can do the project by herself, Billy still says he wants to help.For some reason, Billy seems to like Vivian. Vivian knows he's bad news. Vivian knows that her father would never approve of her dating someone like Billy. Still, she can't help feeling drawn to him. But when Vivian is pulled into a government conspiracy that apparently caused the unsolved disappearance of one of her friends the year before, Vivian's only concern is living through the night.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Original Character(s), Billy Hargrove/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Westons [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748674
Comments: 6
Kudos: 39





	1. Chapter 1

_October 30, 1984_

When I sit down in the library a few minutes before first period on Tuesday, all the girls in there are talking about the new guy who had shown up in a Camaro a few minutes earlier.

“He is so hot,” One of the girls at the table behind me says.

Her friend replies with, "I heard he's from California.”

I roll my eyes. First period hasn't even started yet and people are already acting like they know anything about someone who they saw for the first time five, maybe ten minutes ago?

At least my cousin Kennedy won't be "the new girl" anymore. She’s been at Hawkins for more than a year now, and she’s still considered "the new girl".

In case it isn’t obvious, people don't move to Hawkins very often.

"Vivian," Another one of the girls behind me says.

I bite my lip as I consider ignoring her.

“Vivian,” She repeats.

I sigh and turn toward her.

“Well?” She raises her eyebrows. "What do you think?"

"About?"

"About the new guy."

"I didn't see him,” I tell her.

She rolls her eyes. "I don't know why I asked a twelve year old for her opinion on a guy anyway.”

"I don’t know why you asked me,” I say. “But I can tell you that even the average twelve year old would show more intelligence than you.”

“Bitch,” She mutters as I turn back to my book.

I don't bother pointing out the fact that I’m fifteen, not twelve. I also don't point out the fact that my age has nothing to do with the fact that I haven’t seen the new guy.

Most fifteen year olds are freshmen, and a few are sophomores. Not juniors, like I am. I should be a sophomore. But in middle school, at the end of seventh grade, the principals of the middle school and high schools had a meeting with my parents and me and asked if I wanted to skip eighth grade and go straight into high school. Of course I said yes. I'd worked hard for my straight A's and near-perfect scores on standardized tests. I'd worked hard, and it was finally going to pay off. Fast forward to September of that year, and I learned pretty quickly that the only good thing about skipping a grade and being a thirteen year old high schooler was that I was one year closer to being done with school.

The bell rings, and I settle into my seat. Thanks to my overachieving, while most kids are stuck in class, I’m lucky enough to have free-period right now. I'd taken gym in summer school not because I had failed last year, but because I wanted to get ahead for my junior year. I'd been using my free-period to do all my homework, but I’m already ahead in all my classes, so I’ve had a lot of extra time to read lately.

I’m definitely a nerd and an overachiever, but nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, is going to distract me from being successful in life.

When first period ends, I stop by my locker to get my books for second and third period. I’ll stop at my locker again during lunch to get my books for the rest of the day.

A girl in a leather jacket, a plaid skirt, fishnet tights, and Dr. Martens walks over and leans against the locker next to mine. “I’m bored,” She whines.

“First period just ended, Kennedy. You can’t be that bored already.”

My cousin absent-mindedly twists the stud in her nose as she tells me, “I was bored before first period even started.”

I don’t say anything. I love Kennedy to death, but we are complete opposites. From the way we speak, think, act, and look.

Sure, we have the same brown eyes and our faces are similar enough that a lot of people think we’re sisters but other than that, we don’t look anything alike. She has long, straight, blonde hair and I have wavy black hair that ends just past my shoulders. Her style is one hundred percent punk, and she looks awesome. Most days, I stick to blue jeans and a pair of black, suede ankle boots. Since it’s been getting colder outside, and thanks to my Benetton addiction, I usually wear some colorful sweater. Today’s sweater is neon pink with big yellow, blue, and black cheetah spots.

And I know being related has nothing to do with your style, but it’s further proof that we couldn’t be more different. And aside from all that, Kennedy is cool and the kind of girl no one wants to piss off. I, however, am not that kind of girl. Once the novelty of making fun of the thirteen year high schooler wore off about two months into my freshman year, most kids left me alone. Still, I’m not cool like Kennedy is.

Kennedy shrugs before saying, “At least I’ll have something nice to look at during first period, now.”

“What do you mean?”

“The new guy is in my math class. The teacher put him next to me.”

“Aren’t you having enough trouble in algebra without spending the entire class staring at guys?”

She shrugs. “Life is short, Vivi,” She tells me, using the nickname only she’s allowed to use. “You have to have fun once in a while. Anyway, I’ll see you at lunch. We’re running the mile in gym, and I have to go find a way to get out of that.”

I laugh. “Good luck.”

I watch Kennedy as she walks off. Until last year, Kennedy and I were way more similar. But her parents died in a car accident, and in her parents’ will, they gave custody of her to my parents. When Kennedy got off the plane from New York last August, I didn’t recognize her. She had gone from a preppy good girl to the beginning stages of a punk.

She told me she’d realized life was too short to do what everyone else wanted her to do and that she was going to start living life by her own rules.

I have to admit, lately, it’s starting to seem like maybe I should follow her lead.


	2. Chapter 2

“I swear, the cafeteria has to be getting these vegetables from the baby food aisle at the grocery store,” I say as I stare down at the vegetables on my lunch tray.

Nancy Wheeler shrugs. “They’re not that bad.”

“Then why have I never seen you eat them?”

She doesn’t respond.

“Nance?”

I look at her boyfriend Steve Harrington. He’d told me Nancy has been zoning out a lot lately. Steve puts his hand over Nancy’s. “Nancy?” He says softly.

She looks at us. “Sorry. I was just thinking.”

“About Barb?” I ask carefully.

She nods.

Of course she is. Barb is just about all Nancy has been thinking about lately. I mean, I understand, I miss Barb too. But it almost seems like Nancy has an unhealthy obsession with our friend’s disappearance.

From my freshman year of high school up until last November, Nancy, Barb, and I had done just about everything together. Nancy and Barbara had been best friends since they were in first grade, and they welcomed me into their group when I started high school. But last November, Nancy and Barbara went to a party at Steve’s house. I was sick that day, so I stayed home. Barb never came home from the party, and no one has seen her since. Barb’s car was found a couple of days later at the bus station, but Nancy said that the day after the party, she saw Barb’s car where they’d left it down the road from Steve’s house.

To me, it’s obvious that Barb came back for it sometime later, but Nancy doesn’t think that’s what happened. She insists that something terrible happened to Barb. The guilt has been eating at Nancy ever since, and I gave up on telling her that she has nothing to feel guilty about a long time ago.

Kennedy sits down next to me as she asks, “Does anyone else think these vegetables look like that stuff the girl in The Exorcist pukes up?”

I push my tray away. I can’t look at it anymore. Not after Kennedy’s observation. “That’s a lovely visual,” I mutter.

Kennedy shrugs. “It’s true.”

I can’t argue with that.

“What’s everyone doing after school?” Kennedy asks. “I feel like getting into some trouble.”

“Steve and I have our dinner tonight,” Nancy says, referring to the weekly dinner she and Steve have with Barb’s parents.

Kennedy silently turns toward me and I tell her, “I’m busy.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Thanks,” I say drily.

“You’re busy doing what?”

“Staying out of trouble.”

She rolls her eyes. “You’re such a goody-goody.”

“I love you too.”

She smiles as she hugs me. “I didn’t say I love you, but thanks anyway.”

“You’re the worst.”

When fifth period ends, Ms. Armen, my home ec. teacher, asks me to stay after class.

“Is there a problem with one of my assignments?” I ask.

“No,” She says. “Everything is fine. I actually need your help with something.”

“What’s that?”

“After school next Thursday, I’m allowing the students who didn’t do well on the cooking unit to have a re-do. Since you’re one of the best cooks in any of my classes, I was wondering if you could help me run the class. You know, help some of the kids who seem to be having more trouble?”

I grin to myself. I am a pretty good cook.

“I’d give you extra credit, of course.”

I nod. “I will definitely help you.” Home ec. may only be an elective, but extra credit is extra credit no matter what class it’s in.

“That’s great,” Ms. Armen says. “Thank you, Vivian.” She writes me a pass, and I leave for sixth period.

I walk into my history class and hand the teacher my hall pass before sliding into my seat at the end of the front row.

"You're just in time, Ms. Weston,” Mr. Farmer tells me. “I know yesterday you agreed to work alone on the semester project-”

“I want to work alone,” I say quickly. I prefer working alone, and he already told me that I could.

“Yes, but we have a new student joining the class, so you will be paired with Mr. Hargrove.”

The guy sitting to my left turns to me. I was so busy trying to not make a scene while coming into the class that I didn’t notice that the seat next to me, which is usually empty, has someone sitting in it. This has to be the new guy everyone’s been talking about all day. All those girls are right. He is good-looking. Unfortunately, he also looks like he has never touched a book in his life. And I know from Kennedy that he’s a senior, so what is he doing in a class for juniors?

"All right, everyone, get to work," Mr. Farmer says. "As you all know, I want an outline of everyone's project by the end of class on Friday.”

The new guy leans over and holds out his hand. "I'm Billy, by the way."

"Vivian," I reply, shaking his hand. Then, before I can stop myself, I ask, “Aren’t you a senior?”

"Word travels fast, I guess,” He says with a laugh. “Yeah, I am. But I failed history last year, so I have to make it up this year."

Well, that’s just great. I’d been looking forward to working alone and getting to do the project my way. Now I have a partner who failed history. And even though I know it’s probably a pointless question, I ask, "Any ideas for our topic?"

"I don't know anything about history.”

Of course not.

I tell Billy, "I was planning on doing the project about Marie Antoinette? I know it’s kind of cliche for a history project, but what no one ever seems to consider the fact that she was this fourteen year old who was suddenly married off to some totally random dude and then expected to run an entire country.” I shrug as I add, “Also that people were kind of determined to hate her from the start. We could focus on how court intrigues sabotaged her reign and in turn kickstarted the French Revolution." I know I’m rambling, but I don't care. I’m good with history, and I refuse to do another project on the Civil War or the American Revolution like every other guy I had ever worked with in history wanted to do.

"Wasn't she French?" Billy asks me.

"Technically, no. She wasn't from France, but yeah, she was the queen of France. Why?"

"We can't do a project about her if she isn't American, can we?"

"This is _world_ history, not _American_ history. Are you sure you're in the right class?"

He pulls a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and hands it to me. It’s his class schedule.

I take the paper from him and look at it. Unfortunately for my project, and me, he’s in the right class. I give the paper back as I say, "I suppose we could do a project about American history, but I would prefer not to. All anyone ever wants to do is something about American history. I want to do something different.”

His only response is, “This sounds like it’s going to be a lot of work.”

I sigh. "Look, don't worry about it. I'll do the project, and you can just write your name underneath mine when I'm done, ok? It won’t be a big deal to me.” It really wouldn’t be a big deal. In fact, it would make this whole thing easier.

"We can’t do that,” Billy says. “We’re partners. I'm pretty sure that means we have to work together."

"You don't seem like the type who cares about doing their fair share of work."

He doesn’t respond.

“Fine,” I say after a moment. “We should probably figure out what days we can meet after school. I can meet you at the library whatever days you want. Weekends work for me, too.”

“We could start today,” Billy suggests. "We could work on it at my place."

I don’t want to go to his house. It’s nothing against him, just the fact that I know absolutely nothing about him. I bite my lip, searching my mind for a way out. "I'll have to ask my cousin if she can drive me,” I tell him.

"I'll drive you. It’s not a big deal. We can leave right after school."

"I don't know..." I say slowly.

"What? Are you afraid of stranger danger?" Billy laughs. "Don’t worry, my stepsister will be in the car."

"That makes it sound like you'd try something if she wasn't going to be there," I point out.

He shrugs but doesn’t argue.

“Yeah,” I say slowly. "I'll talk to my cousin first.”

"God, Viv, I’m kidding."

"My name is Vivian."

"You've never had a nickname?"

I don't respond.

Billy keeps talking. "Like I was saying, I'm kidding. Pretty much every girl around here would gladly get on her knees if I asked. I don’t need to waste my time going after the only girl who isn’t interested in me.”

_The only girl?_ Does he hear himself right now? But I ignore that and just mutter, "How nice for you.”

He smirks. "Jealous?"

"Of what? I don't even know you. And that's exactly why I think I should talk to my cousin first." I shrug as I say, "I guess I have to anyway since she's my ride home."

"So, you're coming over?"

"Yes.” When Billy smirks, I give him a look and add, “To work on the project.”


	3. Chapter 3

When sixth period ends, Billy tells me, "My car is the blue Camaro in the back of the parking lot."

As if I need him to tell me. I’d heard about his car a million times before lunch had even come around. "I'll be there in a few minutes," I say. I meet Kennedy at my locker and tell her, "I'm not coming home today."

"Where are you going?"

"I have work to do on a history project. I'm going to my partner's house."

"Do you need me to pick you up?"

"Probably. I'll call you later and give you the address."

"I'll talk to you then," Kennedy says before walking off.

I walk to the back of the parking lot, where Billy is leaning against his Camaro, talking to a blonde girl Kennedy has a few classes with. I’m pretty sure her name is Alice.

When I walk over, Billy puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me against him as he tells Alice, "I already have a date."

She looks at me, looking like she’s about to say something. But then she closes her mouth, probably after realizing I’m Kennedy’s cousin, and silently walks off.

"This isn't a date,” I tell Billy as I step away from him.

"I know," He says as he lights a cigarette. "I just needed to make her go away. Some people don't know how to take no for an answer."

“Because you’re just that great?” I ask flatly.

“Let me put it this way. In the past six hours, I’ve gotten enough offers from girls to last me the rest of the school year.”

That doesn’t surprise me. But I don’t admit that. All I say is, “So, what part of California are you from?”

“San Diego.”

“I’ve been there a few times,” I say. “My mom’s from La Jolla.” That’s actually where my mom is right now, helping one of her sisters with their new baby.

“Your family must be loaded.”

I shrug but don’t deny anything. We’re pretty well off. My dad’s a lawyer, but even if he wasn’t, both of my parents had come from money anyway. When I look at Billy, he’s staring at me. “What?” I ask.

He actually winks at me as he says, “Just enjoying the view.” Then he looks toward the middle school and sighs in what seems like annoyance. “Here comes my stepsister.”

A younger redheaded girl is heading toward us on her skateboard. She makes a face as she asks Billy, "You're already bringing girls home?"

Billy glares at her before saying, "Max, this is my _history partner_ Vivian. Vivian, this is my stepsister Max."

“Hi,” Max says to me. “Sorry that you’re stuck working with him.”

I smile a bit. “Hi. And thanks.”

Billy is still glaring at Max as he tells her, "You're sitting in the back."

"No way! I know what you do back there. I also know that you never clean the seats!”

I try and fail to hold in a laugh.

"Then skate home,” Billy says as he unlocks the car.

Max sighs but doesn't argue as she lets herself into the backseat.

As Billy drives, he has me explain what it means to outline a project. After that, I have to explain how to properly research a project, and he interrupts me a million times to ask me all kinds of things, like what citing your sources means or how to use the microfiche machines at the library.

“Have you ever worked on a project?” I finally ask. “Like, at all?”

“No. If it’s a group project or we have partners, I just have everyone else do the work for me. If it’s one I’m supposed to do by myself, I pay someone else to do it for me.”

“Then why don’t you pay me to do your half of the work?”

“You already offered to do it for free,” Billy reminds me. Technically, he’s right.

“That was my first offer,” I respond. “You passed on it. Now you have to pay.”

“But I want to help.”

“Why?”

“Because for some reason, you don’t want me to.”

I stare at him for a long moment before asking, “Are you always like this?”

“He’s usually worse,” Max tells me from the backseat.

I turn around to look at her. “You are seriously the only person I’ve talked to today who seems to realize how annoying he is.”

“I’ve been going easy on you,” Billy tells me.

I can’t help smiling even as I say, “You could have fooled me.”

When we get to Billy’s house a few minutes later, he tells me, "We have to work in my room."

"We have to?" I ask slowly.

"Yeah. We can sit on my bed."

"On your bed?"

As Billy leads me into the house, he says, "We haven't finished unpacking yet. If the couch was set up, we'd sit out in the living room."

Sure enough, there are still boxes everywhere, and not a lot of furniture. 

“Don’t worry,” Billy tells me. “I won’t bite.” He grins before adding, “Unless you want me to.”

I roll my eyes.

“Come on, Viv. I’m kidding. That’s a thing people do sometimes. Or do people not do that around here?”

“I told you, my name is Vivian.” I hate nicknames. I always have. I don’t know why. Then I say, “Besides, it’s hard to tell with you.”

“What’s hard to tell?”

“Whether you’re being serious or not.”

Billy doesn’t respond to that as he leads me into his room and sits down on the bed. When I sit next to him, he says, “Let me guess. You’ve never even held hands with a guy, right? Made eye contact?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“You know that not answering the question is a dead giveaway that I’m right, don’t you?”

“You don’t know anything about me,” I snap.

He looks like he has a response to that, but the only thing he says is, “How do you want to do this outline?”

Billy and I spend a couple of hours working on the outline of our project and only stop working when Max knocks on his door.

“What?” Billy asks.

Max sticks her head into the room and asks, “Can you take me to the arcade?”

“I’m kind of busy.”

“Your dad said last night that you’d take me.”

“I don’t remember that.”

“You weren’t there.”

“You know what happens when you lie,” He warns her.

“I’m not lying.”

Billy sighs, but he doesn’t say anything.

I look at him and say, “I think we’ve gotten enough work done today. I can call my cousin and she’ll come get me.”

“How soon can she be here?” He asks.

“Probably ten minutes.”

Billy looks at Max and tells her, “Give me fifteen minutes.”

Max nods and closes the door.

“The phone’s in the kitchen,” Billy tells me as he gets up.

In the kitchen, I call my house and give Kennedy Billy’s address. She tells me she’ll be here in a few minutes.

Billy leans against the kitchen counter as he asks me, "Are you going to that party tomorrow night?"

“You mean Tina’s?” I ask.

“Yeah, I guess.”

I nod. "Kennedy, my cousin, is making me go with her."

"Kennedy? That punk girl?"

"That's her."

"I saw her checking me out in first period."

I roll my eyes. "You are so full of yourself." I don't mention that Kennedy told me earlier that she'd been checking him out.

He studies my face before saying, "I would have thought you guys were sisters."

"We get that a lot."

“I’d say you’re the better looking one.”

Yeah, right. I don’t believe that for a second. But all I say is, “I didn’t ask.”

He rolls his eyes. “Why can’t you just take a compliment?”

“Because I didn’t ask you to compare me to my cousin.”

“You know I’ve never had a girl not take a compliment from me?”

I shrug. “Well, I don’t know what to tell you.”

Billy stares at me for a long time before saying, “You are really something different, you know that?”

I laugh a bit. “We’re working together for the rest of the semester,” I remind him. “That should give you some time to get used to it.”


	4. Chapter 4

_October 31, 1984_

On the way to school on Wednesday morning, Kennedy asks me, “What are you wearing to the party tonight?”

“I don’t know yet,” I answer. “What about you?”

She lights a cigarette and tells me, “I’m going as Sid Vicious.”

I make a face and unroll my window, knowing that reminding Kennedy that I hate the smell of cigarettes will be pointless. Instead, I ask, “What are you going to do about your hair?”

“I bought some of that spray-on dye that washes out, and I also bought a lot of hair gel.”

“I’m sure you’ll look great.” I mean it. Kennedy looks great no matter what she does, and she is ridiculously good at putting outfits together. If she can’t find a t-shirt or a pair of pants that look like what she wants, she’ll make the clothes herself.

When we pull into the parking lot at school, Kennedy says, “I’ll find something for you to wear tonight, ok?”

“I wouldn’t want anyone else to do it,” I say with a grin.

During first period, I’m sitting in one of the private study rooms in the library when Billy walks in. "Are you stalking me?" I ask as I look up from my book.

"I swear to god, I didn't know you were in here,” He tells me. “I'm just trying to find a place to hide so I don't have to go to math."

"It's your second day and you're already cutting classes?"

He shrugs. "You can't tell me you're surprised."

I’m not.

Billy sits down next to me as he asks, "Which class are you skipping? You don’t seem like the type to skip any class."

"I have free period right now."

"Of course you do. And you spend your free period doing homework?"

I smirk. “You can’t tell me you’re surprised.”

He laughs before saying, “Let me guess, your daddy's a preacher or something, right?"

"My _daddy_ ," I say drily. "Is a lawyer. I'm going to be one too, and nothing is going to stand in my way."

“Do _you_ want to be a lawyer, or does _your dad_ want you to be a lawyer?”

I don’t say anything. In truth, my dad had been pushing me my entire life to be a lawyer. I’ve never thought about doing anything else. Not until recently, anyway. I’ve been thinking that maybe I don’t want to be a lawyer, but I’m not sure what else I would do.

I guess my lack of response is answer enough because Billy asks me, "Do you always do what people tell you?"

I sigh and put a piece of paper in my book as a makeshift bookmark before closing the book. I have the feeling I’m not going to get any studying done with Billy around, and I also have the feeling that he isn’t going away any time soon.

He’s staring at me as he asks, “Well?”

I bite my lip before admitting, “I follow the rules. Why is that so bad?”

Billy is watching me as he says, “God, that’s hot.”

I glare at him. “What’s hot?”

“You biting your lip.”

“That’s hot?” I laugh. “Looks like someone isn’t getting as much action as they like to pretend they do.”

“I get plenty. But that’s not what we’re talking about. You always do what other people tell you, right?”

“I’m pretty sure we’ve already established that,” I say flatly.

“So, if I told you to kiss me, you’d have to do it.”

“You’re not funny.”

“I’m not kidding,” Billy tells me.

I don’t say anything. I’m not about to admit that I’ve never kissed a guy.

“Come on, Viv-”

“Vivian,” I correct.

“You think it would be that bad?”

“Not because of you,” I admit after a moment.

“You think you’d be that bad?”

I shrug. It’s the most I’m willing to admit.

“Why don’t you prove it?”

I look at Billy. “Why don’t you let me get back to my studying?”

“If I’m good, can I stay in here?”

I try to hide a smile as I say, “Sure.” I pick up my book and start reading again. I’m reading The Outsiders for English and I can feel Billy reading over my shoulder. But as long as he keeps his mouth shut, I don’t care.

“Are you reading this for school?” He asks after a few minutes.

I nod.

“Well, that explains why it’s so boring. It’s a school book.”

“It’s not boring,” I argue. “The Outsiders is a classic, I’ve read it four times before.”

“’Classic’ is another word for boring.”

“You act like there are books you would find interesting.”

“I read sometimes.”

I still don’t look up from my book as I tell him, “Playboy doesn’t count.”

He laughs. “You know, for a nerd, you’re not that bad.”

I can’t help smiling as I reply, “You’re not as bad as I thought you’d be either.”

Later that night, Kennedy and I are on our way to the party, and I ask for the millionth time, “Are you sure I look ok?”

“You look great,” She tells me.

I look down at my outfit. Kennedy and I had gone through my mom’s old clothes in the attic, and I am now dressed as a hippie, complete with a suede vest and matching headband.

“Seriously,” Kennedy says. “You need to stop overthinking everything.”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t overthink everything.”

“Yes, you do.” Then she asks, “Where does your dad think we’re going tonight?”

“It doesn’t matter. He has an early meeting tomorrow, so he probably got in bed right after we left.”

Kennedy laughs. “Good. Because we’re not going to be home for a long time.”

When we get to the party, Kennedy parks behind a blue Camaro with a California plate.

“Looks like the new guy is here.” Kennedy grins. “How much do you want to bet he’s not wearing a shirt tonight?”

I look at her. “What?”

“I heard from one of the girls who has gym at the same time he does that he looks really good without a shirt.”

“And?”

“And guys who have good bodies usually know it, and usually don’t wear a shirt unless they have to.”

I laugh. “I guess we’ll see.”

Kennedy gets out of the car and asks, “How do I look?” She’s wearing a pair of leather pants, a white tank top, a leather jacket, and her Dr. Martens, which were the only shoes she owned. For the most part, she looks the same she does every day. The only difference is the chain with a padlock around her neck, and her hair, which I had helped her “dye” and style.

“You look great,” I tell her.

“You do too,” She says. “Maybe you’ll find a guy tonight.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, right.”

She shrugs. “You never know. Come on.”

I get out of the car and follow Kennedy toward the house. There’s a guy in a toga passed out on the front lawn.

Kennedy grins as she tells me, “You know it’s a good party when people are passed out.” She grabs my arm. “Let’s go.”


	5. Chapter 5

It’s past midnight when Kennedy and I leave the party. Surprisingly, I managed to have a good time. I’d found a group of kids in the backyard who were discussing the origins of Halloween. Of course, I spent the party talking to them because even at a party, I have to be a nerd.

Kennedy is holding onto me as we walk down the driveway… Well, I’m walking. She’s stumbling. “God, you are so drunk,” I say as we approach her car. “Can you drive?” I already know the answer to that, though.

Kennedy’s only response is to lean against the car, laughing.

"I'll drive," I snap. "Give me the keys."

That makes Kennedy laugh even harder. " _You're_ going to drive?" She manages to ask.

I only have my learners permit and I’m not supposed to drive without one of my parents, but we have no other options. I’m certainly not about to call my dad and tell him what’s going on. "Just give me the keys,” I say sharply.

"I don't have them," Kennedy laughs.

The laughing is getting on my nerves and I’m pretty sure I’d smack her if I didn't think it would make her laugh more. "You don't have the keys?" I cry.

She shakes her head.

"Where are they?"

"I lost them."

"Oh my god," I groan. We can't possibly be farther away from our neighborhood right now. Walking home with a drunk Kennedy would take forever. And that’s if I can even get her to walk.

"Car trouble?" Someone behind us asks.

I turn around to see Billy walking toward us. "More like cousin trouble," I say as I glare at Kennedy. "She lost her keys."

Kennedy is looking at Billy, who isn’t wearing a shirt under his leather jacket. She turns to me, and I roll my eyes, already knowing what’s coming. “Vivi.”

I try to sound patient as I say, “Yes?”

She points at Billy. “I was right.”

I roll my eyes. “Yet you can’t remember where you put your keys.”

“What was she right about?” Billy asks me.

“Nothing,” I say at the same time Kennedy tells him, “You’re really hot.”

Billy laughs before telling her, “I know.” Then he looks at me. "Now it's your turn."

"My turn for what?”

"It's your turn to tell me how good I look."

I shrug. “I guess you look ok.”

That’s an understatement on my part, and Billy knows it. “Just ok?” He asks in disbelief.

Kennedy is tugging on my sleeve. “Vivi,” She says. “Vivi, I have something to tell you.”

I turn to Kennedy. “What?”

“I think I’m drunk,” She says before going into another fit of laughter.

Jesus fucking Christ.

I sigh. “Do me a favor, and just sit down and shut up for a second, ok?”

“But-”

“I’m trying to figure out how we’re going to get home.”

She rolls her eyes but doesn’t say anything as she sits down on the sidewalk.

Billy is watching us, and tells me, "If you need a ride-"

I cut him off with, "We'll be fine, thanks."

“Viv.”

“Seriously, we’ll be fine.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” I tell him. “It’s just that I heard you're the new keg king. I'm not letting someone who's been drinking drive me anywhere."

"I'll let you drive if it makes you feel better.”

I shake my head. “I can’t.”

“Do you know what a big deal that is?” Billy asks me. “I’ve never let anyone drive my car. Ever.”

"Well, I’m honored,” I say flatly. “But I can't drive. Like, I seriously can’t.” I was only going to drive Kennedy’s car because I thought it was my only option. Of course, I now know that it’s not an option at all since she doesn't have her keys.

“Wait,” Billy says. “You don’t have a license?”

I shake my head again.

He laughs. "What? You're a junior."

"And I'm only fifteen,” I say. “I don’t turn sixteen until December."

Billy repeats, "You're a junior."

"A junior who skipped a grade.” Why is this so hard to understand?

"Wow, you really are a nerd." I glare at Billy as he goes on, "Do I seem drunk to you?"

Not that I’m going to admit it, but no, he doesn't.

"I've been drinking since I was thirteen. I've built up a tolerance," He tells me.

He has to be kidding, right? "That's how you're going to convince me to get in a car with you?" I ask. "By telling me that you've been drinking since you were thirteen?"

Billy shrugs. "Fine." He goes around to the driver's side of his car and starts unlocking it.

I look at Kennedy, who’s sitting on the ground, leaning against the side of her car. She looks like she’s going to pass out any second, and it would only make getting home that much harder. On the other hand, you don’t get to be the keg king without drinking a lot. And I know it’s a stupid idea to let someone who had been drinking _that_ much drive me home. Still…

I turn back to Billy. "Hold on.”

He looks at me.

I sigh before saying, “We’ll take the ride.” 

He smirks. "I'll help you get her in the backseat."

It takes a couple of minutes, but we finally get Kennedy laid out in the backseat.

I look at Kennedy’s car and say, “She’s going to be pissed in the morning when she finds out she lost the only key to her car.”

“Always give your keys to the most responsible person you’re with,” Billy says. “It’s one of the first rules of partying.”

“I really wish she did,” I tell him as we get in the car.

We drive in silence for a few minutes with the radio on. American Girl by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is playing. It’s my favorite song.

I can feel Billy watching me, but I don’t say anything. I know he’ll say whatever’s on his mind eventually. And sure enough, he does. “You like this song?” He asks me.

“How do you know?”

He seems like he’s trying to hide a smile as he tells me, “You’re mouthing the words.”

“I am not.” Am I really?

“Why would I lie about that, Viv?”

He has a point, and now I’m wondering how often I do that.

As if he’s reading my mind, he tells me, “I think you did it yesterday, too.”

“Which song?”

“Africa.”

That sounds right. I love that song, too.

Then he adds, “And I also think you were doing it a little bit during that one song by The Cars.”

“Which song?”

“I don’t know, I don’t like them enough to know their songs. I think it was What I Needed or something?” He means Just What I Needed, and I know that I’d probably been mouthing the words.

I look at him. “You don’t like The Cars?”

“No.”

“You’re missing out.”

Billy laughs. “Sure I am.”

“You are,” I insist. Then I add, “But I never realized I do that. I mean, mouthing the words.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s cute.”

“I’m sure it is,” I say flatly.

“I’m serious.”

“I already told you it’s hard to tell sometimes.”

“Let me make it easy for you, Viv,” Billy says. “If I’m complimenting you, you specifically, I promise that it is never going to be sarcastic.”

“Right.”

“I can be genuine sometimes.”

I look at him. He seems like he’s serious. “Well, if that’s the case, then I guess I’ll start accepting your compliments.”

“You should,” Billy tells me. “Because you’re the only girl who doesn’t, and you’re the only girl who I compliment for real. You should feel honored.”

“Honored?” I repeat with a laugh. “Has anyone ever told you that you have an ego problem?”

“All the time. But with the way I look, it’s hard not to.”

“It must be quite a struggle,” I tease.

“Yeah, but I’ll live.”

I shake my head, and I can’t help smiling as I say, “You’re unbelievable.”

A few minutes later, we’re almost got back to my house when Billy puts his hand _way_ up on my leg.

I look at him. He’s focused on the road, or at least pretending to be. I’m learning that with him, either is possible. After a moment, when it becomes clear that he isn’t going to move his hand, I ask, "You know where your hand is, right?"

"Sorry, it's a habit,” He tells me. But he doesn't move his hand.

“What? When you’re in a car with a girl?”

He nods.

"There's a shocker," I mutter. Then, because my curiosity always gets the best of me, I ask, “If it’s such a habit, then why didn’t you do it yesterday?”

"Do you wish I did?"

I don’t answer.

"Well, for some strange reason," He says sarcastically. "I don't like hitting on girls when my younger stepsister is sitting in the backseat."

I shrug. "That's not a bad policy. But you do know my cousin is passed out in the backseat, right?"

"'Passed out' being the key term."

I can’t help laughing at that. Then after a moment, I point out, “You still haven’t moved your hand.”

“You still haven’t told me to.”

I don't say anything.

After a moment, Billy laughs. "That's what I thought." He doesn’t move his hand until we get to my house, and if I’m being honest, I’m not complaining.

Once we have Kennedy out of the car and leaning against me, Billy asks, “Do you need help getting her inside?”

I shake my head. “I’ll be all right.” I know that if my dad wakes up to me coming home with a drunk Kennedy, we’re going to be in enough trouble. If he wakes up to me coming home with a drunk Kennedy _and_ a guy? I don’t even want to think about that.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

“Thanks for the help,” I say. “Seriously. We wouldn’t even be halfway home right now if we were walking.”

“No problem.”

Kennedy and I are halfway up the walkway to the front door when I turn around and tell Billy, “By the way, when I said you look ok, that was a serious understatement.”

“I know,” He says with a smirk. “You don’t look too bad either.”

I try to hide a smile as I say, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”


	6. Chapter 6

_November 1, 1984_

When I come out of the bathroom the next morning, Kennedy is sitting on my bed. “Don’t you ever knock?” I ask as I wrap my robe tighter around me.

“I did,” She tells me. “You were in the shower.”

“Then come back after I get dressed.”

“But it’s important.”

I sigh. “What?”

“Well, first of all, why are you wearing your glasses?”

I sigh. I hate wearing my glasses. Purple square frames that I look terrible in and usually only wear first thing in the morning and before I go to bed. I roll my eyes as I tell her, “My dad forgot to pick up my contacts yesterday. Now, what do you want?”

“I want to know where my car is.”

I’d actually forgotten about that until now. “It’s still at Tina’s.”

“Why?”

“You lost your keys last night.”

“No, I didn’t,” Kennedy argues. She holds them up. “They’re right here.”

“Where did you find them?” I cry.

She hesitates before saying, “Don’t hate me.”

“I’m not making any promises.”

“They were in the pocket of the jacket I wore to the party.”

I can’t help glaring at her as I ask, “You didn’t check both pockets?”

She shrugs. “I was drunk.”

“You know we don’t have time to get your car before school, right? We have to walk to school, and then after school, we have to walk all the way to Tina’s house to go get your car.”

“I know,” Kennedy says. “I’m sorry. I messed up.”

“Whatever. Let me get dressed then we’ll leave.”

After I get dressed, I go downstairs and find Kennedy in the kitchen. She’s going through the pile of mail on the table. “This came for you,” She says, holding out an envelope. “It’s from Harvard.”

“Can you hold onto it for me?” I ask, not bothering to look at it. “Hide it wherever you hide your cigarettes and beer?”

“Vivi, you’ve been working toward Harvard your whole life. Don’t you want to open it?”

“I already know what it says,” I answer. “That’s like, the fifth letter they’ve sent me since August.” And I’ve hidden every letter before my parents, my dad in particular, could see it.

“What do they want?”

“To talk about me going to their school,” I answer flatly.

"So, why don't you sound more excited?" Kennedy asks slowly. "Or like, excited at all?"

I don't answer.

“Do you even want to be a lawyer?”

I turn to her. “You know you’re the second person to ask me that this week?”

“Well, honestly. Our entire lives, your dad has been talking about his daughter, the future lawyer. It’s like you never had a say in the matter.”

I know she’s right. I’ve known for a while. And I’m finally willing to admit that I’ve been working toward a dream that isn’t mine. “I don’t,” I say after a moment. “I don’t want to be a lawyer, and I’m not sure if I have a say in it.”

“Tell your dad to go fuck himself,” Kennedy says with a shrug. “It’s about time someone did.”

I laugh before asking, “Can you please just hide that letter for me until I figure out how to tell my dad that I don’t want to go to law school?”

Kennedy grins. “Anything for my favorite cousin.”

At lunch, it’s just Kennedy, Steve, and me.

“Where’s Nancy?” I ask when Steve sits down without her.

He shrugs. “I don’t know. I guess she’s still mad about our fight.”

I heard about the fight they had at the party last night. Everyone has. It started with either Nancy spilling punch on herself or Steve spilling punch on Nancy. There’s been some disagreement on who spilled the punch, but everyone agrees on what happened afterward. Nancy and Steve fought in the bathroom and Steve left Nancy at the party. No one knows what the fight was about, though, and Steve doesn’t seem like he’s in the mood to talk about it.

“That’s why I don’t bother with relationships,” Kennedy says. “Everyone’s always mad at someone.”

I turn to her. “Could you maybe _try_ to be a little more sensitive?”

“It’s ok,” Steve says. “She’s right.”

“Are you guys going to make up?” I ask Steve.

He shrugs. “I don’t know. She said she doesn’t love me.” He looks at me. “Did she ever tell you anything like that?”

I shake my head. Since Barb went missing last year, Nancy has withdrawn from a lot of things, including our friendship. We still sit together at lunch and hang out sometimes, but things aren’t the way they used to be.

“She was drunk,” Kennedy reminds Steve.

“Yeah, I know.” He seems to hesitate before telling us, “But when I asked her this morning if she loves me, she wouldn’t say it.”

“You can’t put her on the spot like that and expect it to go well,” I tell him.

Steve doesn’t say anything else for the rest of lunch.

In history, Mr. Farmer gives us all of sixth period to work on our projects. I manage to talk for ten minutes without Billy interrupting me. That’s when I realize that something is wrong. I know he isn’t the quiet type. “Are you ok?” I ask.

“I’m fine,” He tells me. “I just got in trouble with my dad for coming home late last night.”

“I’m sorry,” I say. “If I knew we were going to make you late-”

He cuts me off with, “It wasn’t you. I was supposed to be home at ten. I was late way before I took you and your cousin home. Seriously, don’t worry about it, it’s not a big deal.”

Something about the way Billy is acting makes me think that it is a big deal, though. I study his face before asking, “You’re sure you’re ok?”

He nods. “Yeah. So, you said something about the microfish at the library?”

“Micro _fiche_ ,” I correct.

“Right. Isn’t that for newspapers, though?”

“Usually, but sometimes there’s articles from academic journals too. I figured we can just go see what the library has.”

“You want to do that today?”

“Sure. I can meet you at three.” That will give me plenty of time to go back to Tina’s so Kennedy can get her car.

“Three sounds good,” Billy tells me.


	7. Chapter 7

“So, why didn’t you tell me you know the new guy?”

It’s after school, and Kennedy and I are walking to Tina’s. This walk is getting more and more miserable with every step, and I keep reminding myself that I only have a little more than a month until I can drive myself places.

“You never asked,” I say with a shrug.

“He told me he drove us home last night.”

I look at Kennedy. “Do you not remember that?”

“Nope.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

“He also told me you guys are doing that history project together.”

I know where Kennedy is going with all this, so all I say is, “That reminds me, I need you to take me to the library after this.”

“You have a study date?” Kennedy asks with a grin.

I roll my eyes. “It’s not a date.”

Kennedy’s quiet for a moment before asking, “So, do you like him?”

I look at her. “What?”

“It’s a simple question, Vivi.” Kennedy slowly repeats, “Do you like him?”

“No. I don’t even know him.”

Kennedy studies my face for a moment, but she doesn’t say anything for the rest of the walk to Tina’s.

When Kennedy drops me off at the library seven minutes past three o’clock, Billy is waiting outside by the doors. “Have fun,” Kennedy tells me with a smirk.

I glare at her in response.

“If you need me to pick you up, I can’t until seven. I have a… thing with some guy.” Kennedy always has a ‘thing’ with some guy.

“I’ll walk,” I tell her.

Kennedy glances at Billy before telling me, “I bet he’d love to give you a ride.”

“Jesus.”

“I’m just being honest,” She says with a shrug. “He’s clearly into you.”

“Even if he is, you don’t have to put it like that.”

“I’m sorry,” Kennedy tells me, not sounding sorry at all. “I saw the opportunity and I took it.”

“You certainly did,” I agree. I get out of the car and say, “I’ll see you at home.”

“You’re late,” Billy tells me as I walk over to him.

“By seven minutes.”

"You remind me of the type who thinks that on time is fifteen minutes too late.”

I respond by flipping him off.

"Car trouble?" He asks with a smirk.

"Cousin trouble. Continued from last night."

"It looks like you guys found the keys."

I roll my eyes. "She never lost them. They were in a different pocket than the one she usually puts them in."

Billy laughs. “She definitely should have given you the keys.”

“Next time I go to a party with her, I’m going to make sure she does.” If she ever manages to drag me to another party.

We leave the library at six, after a few hours where we actually managed to get some work done.

Billy seems like he’s in an even worse mood than he was during history, but whatever is bothering him, he doesn’t bring it up. As we walk out of the library, he asks me, “Is your cousin picking you up?”

“No, she’s with some guy.”

“You need a ride?”

I shake my head. “I’ll walk.”

“Come on, Viv.”

“I’ll be fine,” I insist.

Billy laughs shortly. “Of course you will.”

I turn to him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

"Just that you're the typical, good little rich girl. Afraid of what Mommy and Daddy would think if they saw you with someone like me."

"You dropped Kennedy and me off at my house last night."

“Yeah, you let me do something when it was convenient for you. You let me drop you off when it was late enough that you probably didn’t have to worry about your parents seeing you in my car.”

“I said no like, a million times,” I argue. “You insisted.”

“Ok, so tell me this, if your parents asked you about me, you’d probably tell them I’m Kennedy’s friend, wouldn’t you?”

I don’t say anything.

“Am I wrong?”

He’s not.

Billy stares at me for a moment before saying, “That’s what I thought.”

“You don’t know my dad,” I say quietly.

“Are you honestly stupid enough to think that you’re the only person who has problems with their parents? Let me tell you something, Vivian. _Nobody_ gets along with their parents.”

“Look,” I say sharply. “I’m sorry if you have mommy-issues, or daddy-issues, or both, but I’m not like that. Maybe if you stopped being such an asshole for like, five seconds, you’d get along with your parents a bit more.”

Billy doesn’t say anything, but from the look on his face, I know that what I just said got to him.

I know I’m pushing it, but I can only take so much from someone before I start fighting back. So, I keep talking. “Did I just hit a nerve?” I ask with a smirk. “I guess we found out what you're sensitive about. Although I can’t say I’m too surprised. That’s usually what the issue is with people like you."

“People like me?”

“You know, the guy who tries to act tough because he doesn’t get enough love from his parents?” I shrug. “It’s basic psychology.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I know I should stop talking, but I don’t think I could if I tried. “If you think _I’m_ a walking stereotype of the good, preppy, rich girl, I’ve got some news for you. _Every_ guy who acts like you has issues with their parents,” I tell Billy. “They can’t take their anger out on their parents, so they take it out on their peers. Usually the smaller and weaker ones. Because let me guess, you’re scared of what would happen if you messed with someone who looked like they could actually take you, right? Because the tough guy act is just an act, isn’t it?” I turn to walk away as I say over my shoulder, “Believe me, you aren’t as different or special as you like to think you are.”

Billy doesn’t say anything else, and I don’t look back as I start the walk home.


	8. Chapter 8

I’m not even halfway home when I start to feel like a terrible person for everything I said to Billy. I’ve had a few moments where I’ve said some awful things to people, but that was definitely the worst.

When I walk through the front door at home, Kennedy is coming down the stairs. “Thank god you’re here,” She says. “I was not looking forward to having to eat dinner alone with your dad.”

“Vivian? Is that you?” My dad calls from the kitchen.

“Yeah, it’s me,” I answer.

“Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”

“Ok.”

Kennedy studies my face for a second before asking, “What’s wrong?”

I sigh. “It’s a long story, I’ll tell you later.”

“You can tell me on the way to the record store after dinner.”

“Fine,” I say. “So, what happened to your date or whatever?”

“His parents came home. I had to make a window escape.”

“Sounds fun.”

“Window escapes get old around the third time,” She says with a shrug.

I laugh. “Let’s go eat.”

Dinner is quiet for the most part, as my dad looks over a bunch of papers he has spread in front of him. This is unusual. My dad is a bit of a workaholic, but he never works at the dinner table.

“What are you working on?” I ask him.

“Just something for Mayor Kline.”

“What did he do now?” Kennedy asks flatly.

My dad is so focused on his work that his only response to Kennedy’s jab is, “It’s nothing like that.” After a moment he tells us, “By the way, Mayor Kline and his wife will be having dinner with us tomorrow night.”

“Here?” I clarify.

“Yes.”

“I already have plans tomorrow night,” Kennedy says. “It’s an extra credit thing for art class. I don’t think I’ll be back in time for dinner.”

I don’t say anything as I look at Kennedy. She is such a liar.

“That’s fine,” My dad tells her.

I don’t think he wants Kennedy there anyway. Kennedy is very outspoken about her opinions on everything. And she’s disagreed with my dad’s friends on more than a few occasions. I think it only pisses them off so badly because she wins most of the arguments.

My dad looks at me. “There’s an internship position being offered at my friend’s firm next summer,” He tells me. “Maybe after dinner, we could talk about you applying.”

“But I’m only a junior right now.”

“It’s a good opportunity. You can never get your foot in the door too early.”

Even though I’m not ready to have this conversation, I still ask, “What if I don’t want to?”

“Don’t want to what?”

I hesitate before asking, “What if I don’t want to be a lawyer?”

My dad laughs like he thinks it’s a joke. Knowing him, he probably does. “That’s ridiculous,” He says after a moment. “If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you be?”

“I don’t know yet,” I admit. “But what I do know is that I don’t want to be a lawyer.”

“You’ve spent your whole life working toward law school.”

“Because you wanted me to,” I argue. “I’ve never had a chance to decide what I want to do for myself.”

“Vivian,” My dad says, clearly starting to lose his patience. “This is nonsense. You can’t just throw your whole life away.”

“I’m not throwing my life away. It’s not like I’m giving up completely, I just don’t want the career you want me to have.”

“You’re going to law school,” My dad says firmly.

“You can’t force me to go to law school. You can’t force me to practice law. This is my choice.”

“You’ll come to your senses eventually.”

“I’ve been thinking about this since August, and I keep leaning more and more toward the idea that I don’t want to go to law school.”

My dad stares at me for a moment before standing up. “I have some work to attend to in my office,” He says before walking out of the dining room.

I wait until his office door closes down the hall before looking at Kennedy. Kennedy is grinning, and raises her can of soda before saying, “Congratulations.”

On the way to the record store, Kennedy says, “I haven’t forgotten that you said you’ll tell me about whatever you’re upset about, but that can be the conversation on the way home. Right now I need to know what made you decide to finally tell your dad that you don’t want to be a lawyer.”

“I’ve known for a while that I don’t want to go to law school,” I say with a shrug. “I just didn't want to admit it. I feel like I’m letting him down.”

“Well, you’re not. You’re not letting him down just because you’re living your own life.” Kennedy doesn’t like my dad. Her dad and my dad had been brothers, and they’d spent their whole lives fighting. The only reason Kennedy’s parents had given custody of her to my parents was because my dad was the only living relative on either side of their family.

The fact that we knew each other at all before she moved in was a miracle. But my mom, who comes from a huge family, is big on keeping family connections.

Kennedy looks at me. “Does this mean you aren’t going to be so obsessed with school anymore?”

“I mean, I’m not going to just stop doing any school work at all,” I answer. “But yeah, I can relax a little now.”

“Finally. So, do you have any idea of what you want to do instead of law school?”

“Not yet.”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about it all day, and I think I have an idea.”

“What is it?”

“Maybe you should be a chef.”

“Seriously?”

She nods. “I mean, you’re great at cooking. And you like it.”

“Being a chef would be cool,” I admit.

“You’d be great at it.”

“Have I ever told you that you’re the best?”

“Not nearly as often as you should,” She answers with a grin.

As we’re leaving the record store, Kennedy asks me, “So, what the hell happened earlier?”

My only answer is, “I realized than I’m an awful person.”

“Why? What did you do?”

“It’s not what I did, it’s what I said.”

“To Billy?”

I nod.

“Ok,” Kennedy says as we get in her car. “Start from the beginning.”

So, I do. I tell Kennedy about what happened when we were leaving the library. I finish with, “I mean, I still think he was being a jerk, but I was so much worse.”

“What did you say to him, exactly?” Kennedy asks me.

“I don’t know if I should say.”

“Why not? You told me what he said to you. You have to be fair.”

“It’s not that,” I tell her. “But I said some things that were personal for him.”

“Ok,” Kennedy says slowly.

I look at her. “What?”

“Well, earlier today you told me you barely know him. But now you’re telling me that you know him well enough to use personal stuff against him in an argument. And yes, I know that’s not the point here.”

“I don’t know the exact details. I just happened to say the right thing to get a reaction out of him, and when I realized it, I didn’t let up.”

“Instead, you kept using it.”

I nod.

Kennedy doesn’t say anything for a long moment. Then she tells me, “You know I love you, but I’ve gotta be honest here, ok?”

“Ok.”

“Your dad pushing you to be a lawyer fucked you up. The way he trained you, or whatever you want to call it. I mean, I know you operate on facts and logic, but sometimes you’re so emotionless that it scares me. And then when you do show your emotions…” Kennedy trails off.

“It’s the same way I did today,” I say quietly. This is a heavy dose of brutal honesty, but after all the things I said to Billy earlier, I know I deserve it. More than that, I know I need to hear it. I look at Kennedy. “What else?”

“You don’t have to win every argument,” She tells me. “I know that’s what you were taught, but you don’t. And even if you are right, sometimes it’s not worth winning.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, if this is what winning feels like, it sucks,” I say quietly.

Kennedy and I are quiet for a long time. But when we’re about to pass Cherry Lane, I tell her, “Turn here.”

She knows what I’m thinking, and asks, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I need to do this.”

When I ring the Hargrove’s doorbell, Max answers the door. “Vivian? What are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to your brother.”

“I’ll go get him,” She tells me before closing the door.

It’s less than a minute before Billy comes outside. He steps out onto the porch, closing the front door behind him as he asks me, “What do you want?”

“Can we talk?”

He sighs. “Now’s not a good time for me.”

“Right,” I say quietly. I’m not surprised that he doesn’t want to talk to me. I don’t blame him. If I was him, I don’t think I would have even bothered coming to the door. Before turning and heading back to Kennedy’s car, I tell say, “Look, I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I feel horrible about all of it. But I know this isn’t a good time, so I’ll go now.”

I’ve only taken a few steps when Billy tells me, “It seriously isn’t a good time.”

I look at him. “I get it. I’m leaving.”

“Well, it seems like you think I’m blowing you off.”

“You’re not?” I ask slowly.

“If I didn’t want to talk to you, I’d be a lot more straight forward than that. I’d just tell you to fuck off.”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

Billy steps off the porch and walks over to me. “I want to talk about this,” He tells me. “But things here, with my family, it’s all complicated. And I’d explain, but…” He shrugs as he trails off.

“It’s not a good time?”

He laughs a bit. “Now you’re getting it.” He seems to think for a moment before saying, “I was actually planning on waiting for you by your locker tomorrow morning before first period. We can go somewhere to talk then, ok?”

I nod. “Ok.” I’m about to turn away, but I stop and look at Billy. “By the way, I really am so, so sorry about everything I said earlier.”

“I know. We’ll talk tomorrow.”


	9. Chapter 9

_November 2, 1984_

Just like Billy told me he would be, he’s waiting by my locker on Friday morning.

“I’ll see you later,” Kennedy tells me with a smirk.

It’s an effort to not roll my eyes at her when I say, “See you.”

As I walk over to Billy, he asks me, “You ready to get out of here?”

“Sure.” As we walk outside, I ask, “You’re sure you don’t want to talk in one of the study rooms in the library or something?”

“This isn’t something I want to talk about in a public place.”

“Ok,” I say slowly. “Then where are we going?”

“I don’t know,” He admits. “You know anywhere that’s quiet right now?”

I think for a moment before answering, “My house is quiet right now.”

As I lead Billy through the front door at my house, he tells me, “You know, I forgot to tell you yesterday that you look hot with glasses.”

“Sure.”

“I’m serious. Remember what I told you the other night?”

“That your compliments are never fake?” I ask as I sit down on the living room couch.

“Not with you.” Billy sits down next to me as he says, “I need to apologize to you. Because I’m the one who started things yesterday. I was mad, not at you, but I took it out on you anyway. And I’m sorry.”

“You might be the one who started it,” I say quietly. “But I’m the one who took it way too far.”

“You know how to hit someone where it hurts,” He admits.

“It’s a specialty of mine,” I say flatly.

“You were right, though. I mean, about me having issues with both of my parents.” He pauses before saying, “Whatever you think about me, my dad is about a hundred times worse.”

“How bad is it?” I ask quietly.

“Bad enough that I’m counting down the days until I’m eighteen and can get the hell out of that house. He gets violent. A lot. And he likes to take everything out on me.”

“He hits you?”

“Yeah.” Billy shrugs as he adds, “But it’s not a big deal. I mean, I’m used to it.”

I can tell it’s a big deal to him, though. I imagine that it would be to anyone in his situation.

He goes on, “And my mom? I haven’t seen her in ten years. She hated my dad so much that she left him.” He’s quiet as he adds, “And I guess she hated me too, because she left me with him.”

“I’m sorry.”

Billy looks at me. “I don’t talk about my parents,” He says. “I’ve never told anyone any of this.”

“Why are you telling me?”

“Because I feel like I owe you an explanation for why I said what I said yesterday. I don’t have a good reason for it, but after what happened with my dad when I got home on Wednesday night, I spent all day yesterday so mad at him. And I can’t say anything to him about it, so…” He trails off.

“So you started an argument with me,” I finish for him.

“I’m sorry. I know it wasn’t fair of me, I know it was messed up. And those things I said about you, I didn’t mean any of it.”

“I didn’t mean anything I said either. And I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize again, Viv.”

“Well, I feel like I do. And thank you, by the way, for trusting me enough to tell me all this.”

Billy almost seems nervous as he asks, “Can you do me a favor and promise that you won’t treat me differently now that you know all this?”

“I promise.”

Billy doesn’t say anything as he leans over and kisses me. It takes me a moment before I pull away. When I pull away, it’s not because I don’t want this. I _really_ want this. The problem is, I've never done this before, and I don't know what to do. But when Billy looks at me the way he is right now, I decide that I'll figure things out along the way, and I start kissing him again.


	10. Chapter 10

Billy Hargrove is kissing me.

And I’m kissing him back.

I lay back on the couch and he moves on top of me. As we kiss, his hands are everywhere. And I don’t mind at all. Still, after a few minutes, I say, “If we’re going to keep going, I should probably warn you that you were right about how I’ve never even held hands with a guy. So, I have no experience with anything.”

“There was never any doubt in my mind about that,” Billy tells me with a grin. And then he moves away from me as he says, “That’s why I think we should stop.”

I sit up. “Really? I thought things were going good.”

“They are. Really good. But you’ve never had a boyfriend and I’ve never had a girlfriend, so we should do this right.”

“Wait, you’ve never had a girlfriend?”

“You seem shocked.”

I shrug. “I mean, you said you could have any girl you want. And it’s kind of true.”

He laughs as he tells me, “It is absolutely true. And I’ve been with other girls. I’ve just never _dated_ another girl. There was never one I wanted to be in a relationship with.”

“And you want to be in a relationship with me?”

“I do. I like you, Viv. I really, _really_ like you.”

“I like you too,” I say. “And I want to be with you.”

“You’re not worried about what your dad is going to say?”

“No. Kennedy’s been telling me for a while that I need to start living life for myself, and she’s right.”

“She is,” Billy agrees. “And if we’re going to do this right, then I guess the first step would be going on a date.”

I grin. “That sounds good.”

“How about tonight?”

I’m about to say yes, but then I remember that Mayor Kline is coming over tonight, and I know that my dad isn’t going to let me go anywhere. “I can’t do anything tonight,” I tell Billy. “The mayor is coming over for dinner.”

“You say ‘the mayor’ so casually.”

I shrug. “He and my dad have been friends forever. Besides, if you met Kline, you’d know he’s nothing to get excited over.”

“Well, I can’t do anything tomorrow,” Billy tells me. I’m stuck babysitting Max. What about Sunday night?”

“You can pick me up at seven,” I answer.

“Sounds perfect.”

We get back to school a few minutes before first period ends, and we’re at my locker when the bell rings. “I’ll see you at lunch,” Billy tells me.

I look at him. “You want to each lunch with my friends and me?”

“Of course I do. You’re my girlfriend.”

I grin. “Girlfriend?”

“Girlfriend,” Billy confirms.

“I could get used to hearing that,” I say. “But you do know that Steve Harrington sits at my table, right?” I’ve heard some things about Billy and Steve. None of them were good things.

“I’ll be nice,” He promises me.

“Then I’ll see you at lunch.”

Before I walk off, Billy pulls me against him and kisses me for a long time before pulling away and saying, “I’ll see you at lunch.”

At lunch, Steve sits down across from me and asks, “Did you hear about Nancy?”

“I heard she left at lunch yesterday.”

“Is that all you heard?” Steve asks me in a way that tells me he already knows the answer.

“She left with Jonathan Byers,” I answer.

He sighs. “Have you seen either of them today?”

“No,” I admit after a moment. “But, you know, that doesn’t mean anything. I don’t have any classes with either of them. I mean, maybe they are here and I just haven’t seen them.”

“Then why hasn’t anyone else seen them today?”

I don’t say anything. I have to admit, it’s weird. The whole thing with Nancy and Jonathan is. They became friends last year, which I don’t think anyone had been expecting. Jonathan is nice, but girls like Nancy Wheeler don’t hang out with guys like Jonathan Byers. But that isn’t even the weird part. The weird part is the fact that his brother had gone missing two days before Barb. And it got even weirder when Jonathan’s brother was found in the woods the day after the funeral they’d had for him. They had apparently buried the wrong kid, someone they’d found in the quarry, but there are a lot of other things about the story that don’t make sense to me.

“I should have seen this coming,” Steve mutters to himself.

“What happened last year?” I ask him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come on, everyone knows there was some weird stuff going on last November. Especially with the Byers. Nancy must have told you something.”

Before Steve can respond, Billy sits down next to me and kisses me. “I missed you,” He tells me.

“I missed you, too.”

Billy looks at Steve and says, “Don’t look so shocked, Harrington. I told you that I’d see you at lunch.”

“I had no idea what you meant by that.”

“I would have gone easier on you in gym if I’d known you’re friends with Vivian.” He looks at me and asks, “Did you hear that I’ve beat Harrington at basketball twice now?”

“I’ve heard.” I think everyone has. If the rumors are anything to go by, Billy and Steve have been trying to beat each other at basketball all week. Yeah, basketball is a team sport, but according to the guys who have third period gym, Steve and Billy have been playing their own game against each other.

Kennedy sits down next to Steve and looks at Billy and me. “So, I’m guessing the talk earlier went well?”

I grin. “You could say that.”

“I’m glad to see that you’re finally taking my advice and living life for yourself.”

“So am I.”

Kennedy asks Steve and Billy, “Has Vivi told you guys that she isn’t going to law school anymore?”

Billy looks at me. “Since when?”

“I told my dad last night. And before anyone asks, I have no idea what I’m going to do instead. But Kennedy did suggest culinary school, and I really like that idea.” Even though I have no idea what I’m going to do yet, just knowing that whatever I do is going to be what I want already makes me so much happier.

Lunch goes better than expected. Billy and steve ignore each other for the most part, which is definitely better than them arguing. Before we go our separate ways for fourth period, Billy asks me, “How did I do?”

“You did good.”

“I was nice enough for you?”

“Nicer than I expected,” I answer.

“You know, I’m only making an effort because I like you so much.”

“I know. And I appreciate it,” I say honestly. “It means a lot that you’re trying.”

“Anything for you,” Billy says before kissing me.


	11. Chapter 11

In sixth period, Mr. Farmer tells the class, “I’m sick today, and at this point, I’m too tired to teach. So, I’m going to let you guys spend the period however you want.” He gives the class a pointed look as he adds, “Quietly. We don’t need a repeat of last month.”

I cringe at that, remembering the commotion I’d caused last month when the class had been left on our own.

“What happened last month?” Billy asks me.

“Mr. Farmer left us alone for like, twenty minutes, and we kind of started a jousting tournament.”

“Jousting?”

I nod. “You know that medieval thing where people used to try to stab people and knock them off their horses? We did that with skateboards and yardsticks.”

“Why were you guys doing that?”

“I might have accidentally suggested it,” I say slowly.

“Accidentally?”

“I was kidding. I didn’t realize everyone in here was going to think it was the best idea ever.”

“So, you’re not as well-behaved as you pretend to be?”

“I never claimed to be well-behaved,” I remind him with a grin. “You just assumed I was.”

Billy laughs. “I guess you’re right.”

“I was actually in the middle of winning the tournament when Mr. Farmer came back.” I’d literally been right in the middle of winning. I’d made it to the last round and Mr. Farmer had come back in right as my yardstick knocked my opponent off their skateboard.

“You know the fact that that’s your idea of rebelling makes you the biggest nerd ever, right?” Billy asks me.

“You know you love it.”

“I do.”

“By the way, you know the phone number I gave you when we first started the project?” I ask as I start writing in my notebook.

"Yeah."

I tear the page out of my notebook and hand it to Billy as I tell him, “That one was for the main phone. This one is for the phone in my room.”

“I’m getting an upgrade?”

I laugh. “If that’s how you want to put it.”

“Are you sure you aren’t giving me a fake number?”

I shrug. “I guess you’ll have to call to find out.”

“So, you really can’t do anything tonight?”

“I’m sure. The mayor is my dad’s most important client, and my dad’s all about making sure his family looks good. I’d probably be able to get out of it if my mom was going to be there, but she’s in California right now. So, I’m stuck going to this dinner.”

“Does Kennedy have to be there?”

“Why? You want to take her out instead of me?”

“I just can’t imagine her playing nice with any of your dad’s friends,” Billy tells me. “She told me somethings about your dad yesterday, and it’s pretty obvious that she hates him.”

“Which is exactly why my dad pretended to believe Kennedy when she said she has some extra credit thing for art class tonight.”

“What time is this thing going to be over?”

I think for a moment. Dinner starts at seven, and when my dad has company, we usually spend about an hour at the table before they go into my dad’s office for drinks. And once that happens, I’ll be able to go up to my room. “Probably around eight,” I answer. “Why?”

“So I know when to call you.”

“You’re the best,” I tell him.

On the way home from school, Kennedy only manages to go about thirty seconds before asking, “So, how did things go this morning?”

“You already know.”

“Yeah, but I need details.”

“We just talked.”

“That’s all you did?”

I bite my lip before admitting, “We made out a bit.”

“A bit?”

“Ok, we made out a lot.” Right up until we absolutely had to leave to get back to school before second period.

“That’s all?”

“We’re taking things slow,” I tell her.

“Really?”

I nod. “He has a lot more experience than I do-”

“Everyone does.”

“Thanks,” I say flatly. Then I go on, “He’s never had a girlfriend, though. So we’re trying to do the whole relationship-thing right.”

“That’s actually kind of sweet,” Kennedy tells me.

“I am so glad I finally took your advice and started living life for myself.”

“You’re my favorite cousin,” She says. “I just want you to be happy.”

I look at her. “I’m your only cousin.”

“Even if I had others, you would still be my favorite.”

“Well, even though I have way more cousins than just you, you’re still my favorite cousin.”

At dinner that night, I listen to my dad, Mayor Kline, and Mrs. Kline talk while I stare at the food on my plate. Sushi. I’m not a very big fan of seafood, especially when it’s raw.

My dad apparently likes sushi, as he tells Mayor Kline. “You should see about getting a sushi place in the mall.”

“Mall?” I ask.

“Yes,” Mayor Kline says. “A few months ago I was asked if a mall could be built just outside Hawkins. I thought it sounded like a great idea, and thanks to your dad’s hard work, we accepted the deal last night. That’s what this dinner is in celebration of. We’re hoping the mall will be open by June.”

I look at my dad. "You're doing real estate stuff now?"

"No," He answers. "There were other aspects of the deal that I took care of."

"Like what?"

"Just business."

"Right," I say slowly. "But what kind of business?" I don't understand why my dad would be helping Mayor Kline with this kind of deal. My dad is a criminal lawyer. The kind who only defends rich guys who broke the law while trying to get even more rich.

My dad doesn't answer. Instead, he just tells me, "Eat your dinner."

I don’t say anything as I go back to staring at my dinner. While I do think it’s kind of weird that he won’t answer my questions, I remind myself that my dad never talks about his work much anyway.


	12. Chapter 12

_November 4, 1984_

Saturday was so uneventful and boring that I spent most of the day wishing something would happen. Sunday is a completely different story, though. I’m making breakfast in the kitchen when the phone rings and the second I answer the phone, Steve tells me, “I need your help with something.”

“With what?”

“I need to borrow some money.”

“I’m broke.”

“Please. I’ll pay you back by the end of the week.”

“I want to help, but I don’t have any money,” I say honestly.

“Kennedy told me your parents gave you a credit card.”

“Yeah, but that’s for emergencies.”

“This _is_ an emergency,” Steve tells me.

I sigh. “How much money do you need?”

“I don’t know.”

“How do you not know?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Steve-”

“You know me, Vivian. I wouldn’t ask for help like this unless I needed it.”

I sigh. I know he’s right. “Fine. But this is a credit card, so I need to be there for you to use it.”

“I’ll pick you up in ten minutes,” Steve tells me, not waiting for a response before hanging up.

I’m waiting outside when Steve’s car pulls up, and there’s a younger kid sitting in the front seat. As I get in the back, I ask, “What’s the big emergency here?”

“Dustin lost his pet,” Steve tells me. “I’m helping him look for it.”

“So, why do you need to borrow money?”

“We’re buying meat,” The kid, who I’m assuming is Dustin, answers. “We’re going to try luring it back home.”

This plan doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but all I ask is, “What kind of animal is it?”

Dustin and Steve look at each other for a moment before Dustin says, “He’s a lizard.”

At the grocery store, all three of us go inside, and I can’t help saying, “I feel like there’s a better way to do this.” I don’t mention that looking for a lizard is practically hopeless.

“Dart really likes meat,” Dustin tells me. “If he’s anywhere nearby, this will work.”

“Yeah, but he’s a lizard. Maybe you should just get a new one.” Dustin said that Dart got outside, which means that he’s probably never going to find Dart. I know Steve knows this, and I don’t get why he’s wasting his time like this.

The only thing Dustin says is, “Dart is special.”

“Yeah, but if he’s this little lizard and he got outside-”

“He’s not little. He’s about this big,” Dustin tells me, holding his hands almost a foot apart.

“Well, that changes things a little,” I admit. Then I ask, “What kind of lizard is he?”

“I don’t know. I found him in my trash can, and I haven’t been able to find out what kind he is.”

“Maybe I can help look for him.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Steve tells me.

“Why not? I’m good with animals.”

“Dart isn’t very friendly,” Dustin says.

“I can help you guys build a trap or something. And I have all day. I’m not doing anything until seven.”

Steve looks at me. “What are you doing at seven?”

“I have a date.”

“So, you and Hargrove are serious?”

“Yeah.” Before he can say anything, I add, “And I know you can’t stand him, but I really like him. So just try to be happy for me, ok?”

“Fine,” He says after a moment.

“Like I was saying, I can help look for Dart. I can build a trap or something.”

“I don’t think this is something you want to be a part of.”

We get the meat and go to the cash register. When the cashier tells us the price, I hand her my credit card even as I mutter, “My parents are going to kill me when they get this bill.”

“I’m going to pay you back,” Steve reminds me.

“I’m still going to have to tell them what I spent this money on. And I don’t think that this is going to be a good enough answer.”

“What happened to you living for yourself or whatever?”

“I feel like there’s a huge difference between making my own decisions and using the emergency credit card for something that isn’t an emergency.”

“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but this is an emergency,” Dustin tells me. Then he looks at Steve and says, “Maybe we should let Vivian help us. No one else is around right now.”

Steve seems to consider this for a moment before asking me, “You still want to help us look for Dart?”

I nod.

We drive to the train tracks out in the woods and Steve stops the car. “I thought we were trying to get Dart back to your house,” I say to Dustin as we get out of the car.

“That was a lie,” Steve tells me. “Before we knew you were going to be helping us with this.”

“Ok, what’s really going on?”

“We really are looking for Dart,” Dustin tells me. “But he’s not a lizard. He’s a creature from another dimension.”

I stare at him and Steve for a moment before saying, “No, seriously.”

“That’s the truth,” Steve insists.

I stare at him. “How stupid do you think I am?”

“Do you remember on Friday when you asked me what happened last year?”

“I swear to god, if you tell me that this has to do with something from another dimension-”

A voice comes through the walkie-talkie sticking out of Dustin’s backpack, and he walks away as Steve starts putting the meat in a metal pail while telling me, “When Will Byers went missing last year, it wasn’t because he got lost in the woods. There was this thing from another dimension. Dustin and his friends call it the Demogorgon. It’s named after something from some board game, I don’t know-”

“I don’t think Dungeons and Dragons is considered a board game,” I tell him. “I’m pretty sure it’s more a role-playing thing.”

Steve looks at me. “Are you serious right now?”

I shrug. “My lab partner is a huge nerd. He’s obsessed with it.”

“First of all, hearing you call someone is a nerd is hilarious. But I meant, I’m telling you this, and _that’s_ all you have to say?”

“As opposed to what? Me listening to this ridiculous story? And why bring Jonathan's brother into this?"

Steve gives me a look as he asks, “Do you think I’d make something like this up?”

I’m quiet for a moment before admitting, “No. But it’s just so-”

“I know how it sounds. But this Demogorgon took Will Byers and he was trapped in another world. Dustin and his friends call it the Upside Down.” He looks like he wants to say something else, but whatever it is, he doesn’t say it.

I know Steve wouldn’t lie about this. But I still can’t believe it. “There’s no way you can prove this?”

“Not unless we find Dart.”

“And Dart is a Demogorgon?”

“Yeah. I mean, a baby one.”

I sigh. “If I die before my date tonight, I’m blaming you.”

Steve pulls a baseball bat with nails out of his car. “This helped me fight the Demogorgon last year,” He tells me. “And if I could beat that thing, Dart shouldn’t be a problem.”

Before I can think of the appropriate response to this situation, Dustin comes over and tells us, “Lucas is meeting us at the junkyard. Let’s go.”

I’m not dressed for a walk through the woods, and I trail behind Dustin and Steve, who are dropping chunks of raw meat behind them as they walk.

I’m still trying to process what Steve told me. It sounds insane, but I know that Steve wouldn’t make something like this up. Still, the idea that we’re looking from some kind of interdimensional monster? It’s impossible.

When we get to the junkyard, Steve looks around before telling Dustin, “This will do. This will do just fine. Good job.”

A few minutes later, when Steve is walking around and assessing the area, someone shouts, “I said medium-well!”

When we turn around, Lucas Sinclair, who I know through tutoring his younger sister, is walking toward us. And he’s not alone. Max is with him. As they walk over, Max asks me, “You’re part of this too?”

“You told her?” Dustin asks Lucas, pointing at Max.

“You guys told someone too,” Lucas argues, gesturing to me.

“Because no one else was around!”

“I told you, my sister-”

“Ok,” Steve says sharply. “We don’t have time for this. It’s going to be dark in a couple of hours, and we need every second we have.” He looks at Max and asks, “Who are you?”

“Max,” She answers.

“She’s Billy’s stepsister,” I tell Steve.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” He says to her. Then he says, “Ok, here’s what we’re going to do.” He and Dustin tell the rest of us about their plan for what we’re going to do once Dart follows the meat-trail here.

We all split up to find things to cover the window of the bus with, and Max asks me, “Do you know what’s going on?”

“Um, we’re looking for Dart, who I guess is some kind of thing from this other-”

“He’s a Demogorgon from the Upside Down, right?”

“Lucas told you?”

Max nods. “But obviously I don’t believe it. I mean, it’s crazy.”

I don’t say anything.

“You believe it?” She asks in disbelief.

“I don’t know,” I say honestly. “But I do know that Steve wouldn’t lie about something like this. And my friend’s brother is friends with Dustin and Lucas. They’re not the kind of kids to make this stuff up either.”

Before Max can say anything, Steve comes over and asks, “Why am I the only one doing any work?”

I roll my eyes. “This is still a lot for us to take in.”

“Yeah? Well, wait until Dart gets here. Because if he can get into that bus, you’ll have about five seconds to tell me I was right before we all die.”

“Damn, dude,” I mutter. “That’s pretty dark.”

“This is serious, Vivian.”

I know that whether this is real or not, the boys are all taking this seriously. So I say, “Fine. I’m sorry. We’ll get to work.”

And we do.


	13. Chapter 13

In less than two hours, we have a trap laid out for Dart, and we’ve secured the bus so that nothing will be able to get in. It’s just starting to get dark as the group of us heads into the bus. Lucas is sitting on the roof with a pair of binoculars, and the rest of us are inside, waiting for him to tell us when he sees something.

Steve is messing around with his lighter when Max asks him, “So, you’ve really fought one of these things before?”

He nods.

“And you’re sure it wasn’t like, a bear or something?”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Dustin snaps. “It wasn’t a bear. Why are you here if you don’t believe us? Just go home.”

“Someone’s cranky,” Max mutters as she heads up the ladder onto the roof. She looks at Dustin and asks, “Is it past your bedtime?”

She disappears up onto the roof and Steve tells Dustin, “That’s right. Act like you don’t care.”

“I don’t care,” Dustin responds. A second later he asks, “Why are you winking, Steve? Stop.”

I sit down next to Steve and quietly say, “Please tell me you didn’t tell him that acting like a jerk is the best way to get a girl.”

He shrugs. "That's how your boyfriend got you.”

"He's different with me."

"Right."

"Nancy and I had this same conversation last year when you two started dating.”

"So?"

“Well, she was right about you,” I say slowly. “How do you know I'm not right about Billy?”

Steve doesn’t respond. He doesn’t have a chance to, because there’s some kind of screeching coming from outside the bus. Steve, Dustin, and I look out the one window we left uncovered.

“Do you guys see anything?” Dustin asks.

“No,” Steve answers.

“It’s too dark out there,” I say. “And the fog is too low to the ground.”

“Lucas,” Dustin calls. “What’s going on?”

“Hold on!” Lucas shouts. After a second he yells, “I’ve got eyes! Ten o’clock! Ten o’clock!”

We all look to the left, where there’s a creature standing on four legs. It has slimy-looking skin and even though it’s big, I still think there’s a possibility that it could be a lizard. Then I see its head. It has no face. Its head looks like a closed flower.

It definitely isn’t a lizard.

“What the hell is that?”

“Dart,” Dustin answers.

They’ve all been telling the truth. Whatever Dart is, he isn’t from our world.

Dart sniffs at the pile of meat we left in the center of the junkyard, but he doesn’t approach it.

“He’s not taking the bait,” I say.

“Maybe he’s not hungry?” Dustin suggests.

“Or maybe he’s sick of cow,” Steve says, backing away from the window.

Dustin looks at him. “What are you doing?”

I watch Steve walk toward the door. “Where the hell are you going?”

Steve hands me his lighter. “Just get ready.” Then he gets out of the bus and slowly walks toward Dart.

“What is he doing?” Max asks as she climbs back down the ladder.

“Expanding the menu,” Dustin tells her.

“Don’t say that,” I say quietly. I don’t want to watch what’s going on outside, but I can’t look away.

We’re all watching him as Max says, “He’s insane.”

Dustin grins. “He’s awesome.”

Then Lucas starts yelling, “Steve! Watch out!”

“I’m a little busy here,” Steve shouts back.

“Three o’clock!” Lucas screams. “Three o’clock!”

I look to the right, where there are three more of those things.

“Steve!” Dustin shouts, running toward the door. “Abort! Abort!”

“Steve, come on!” I yell.

One of the things starts running at Steve. Lucas, Max, Dustin, and I are all standing by the door now, yelling for Steve to come back. Maybe he could have taken on one of these things, but there are way too many for him to fight alone.

Steve rolls across the hood of a car to dodge the creature, and barely has time to stand up before another one comes at him. He hits it with the bat before running back onto the bus. We barely close the door before one of those things slams into it. Steve and I are trying to hold the door closed as the creatures attack from all sides. One of them tears a hole through the metal and starts swiping at us.

The kids are all yelling, and Dustin is on his walkie-talkie, calling for help. Then Max starts screaming.

When Steve and I turn toward her, she’s looking at the escape hatch on the roof, where one of those creatures is sticking its head through it. “Out of the way,” Steve says, shoving her back. He holds the bat out toward the creature, yelling, “You want some?”

The creature turns away from us and looks off into the distance, roaring once before it jumps off the bus. Then the junkyard goes silent.

The sudden silence scares me more than anything else, and for a long moment, no one says anything.

Finally, I break the silence. “Are they gone?”

Steve opens the door and slowly steps out, wielding the bat. When nothing happens, he turns to the rest of us. “They’re gone.”

“Where did they go?” Max asks.

“Maybe Steve scared them off,” Dustin suggests.

But to me, it almost seems like the creatures were called somewhere. Steve is apparently thinking the same thing, because he says, “No. They’re going somewhere.”

We walk back to Steve’s car, planning to find Chief Hopper, who apparently knows all about this stuff. We don’t get far before Max, Lucas, and Dustin start arguing. Steve walks off, shining his flashlight toward the trees to our right, and I’m wondering when I should tell the kids to stop yelling. We don’t need to be attracting any attention right now.

“Hey guys,” Steve says after a moment. When Dustin and Lucas keep arguing, Steve shouts, “Hey guys!”

The kids stop yelling, and we can hear the creatures somewhere in the distance.

Steve starts heading toward the trees, and Dustin and Lucas follow him.

“Wait!” Max yells. “Why are you guys running toward the sounds?”

None of them answer, and when she looks at me, I shrug. “Trust me, I’m just as lost as you are,” I say.

Still, we follow them. Even if we’re heading toward the danger, Steve has the bat, and he clearly knows how to use it. Sticking with him seems like the safest option right now.

We all stop at the edge of a cliff. We can hear the creatures somewhere below, but we can’t see them.

Lucas pulls out a pair of binoculars, and after a moment, he says, “It’s the Lab.”

I look at him. “You mean the power plant?”

“They’re going back home.”

“Then that’s where we’re going,” Steve says.

“I don’t understand,” I say. “What’s going on?”

“That’s where the Gate is,” Dustin explains as we all start walking. “That’s how the Demogorgon, and Dart, came into our world.”

“And it’s not a power plant,” Lucas tells me.

“It says ‘power and energy’ on their vans, though.”

“They’re military.”

I don’t say anything. This just keeps getting more complicated, if that’s possible.

When we come out of the woods, we’re face to face with Nancy and Jonathan Byers. “Steve?” They say in unison.

“Nancy?”

“Jonathan?” Dustin says.

Nancy looks at me. “Vivian?”

“Are you guys hunting for a baby Demogorgon too?” I ask.

Jonathan looks at me. “What?”

“We’re looking for Mike and Will,” Nancy says, referring to her and Jonathan’s brothers.

“They aren’t in there, are they?” Dustin asks, looking toward the Lab.

“We’re not sure,” Nancy answers slowly.

“Why?” Jonathan asks.

A series of roars coming from the Lab, then.

“That’s why,” I mutter.

Nancy looks at us. “What is that?”

“Baby Demogorgons,” Steve answers.

Nancy and Jonathan look at each other. “I really hope they’re not in there,” Nancy says quietly.

“I’m still learning here,” I say. “So, I don’t understand why your brothers would be here.”

“Will has been coming here once a month since he was brought back from the Upside Down,” Jonathan explains. “More than that if he has an episode.”

“And he’s been having a lot of episodes lately,” Dustin adds in.

“An episode?”

“Hallucinations. Flashbacks,” Jonathan tells me. “It’s part of this post-traumatic thing.”

“PTSD?”

He nods. “Exactly.”

“Actually, we’re not so sure they were just in his head,” Lucas tells everyone.

Dustin nods. “We think he has true sight and that he can see into the Upside Down.”

Jonathan doesn’t seem too surprised, and he says, “Well, something happened at my house. I don’t know what, but there were these drawings all over the wall, and we found a polaroid in the living room.”

We all look confused at that.

“I don’t use a polaroid.”

“Someone else was in your house?” Steve asks.

“It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“And the drawings?” Max asks.

“I couldn’t tell what they were.”

“They were everywhere,” Nancy adds.

If Hawkins Lab was in the Byers house, if Mike and Will are in the Lab, I wonder if they went willingly. But I know that’s probably not something I should say out loud.

“Do you think Hawkins Lab took them?” Lucas asks.

“I didn’t think about that,” Nancy says, sounding a little worried.

Everyone starts talking, trying to figure out what we need to do, and I see Steve say something to Nancy.

Nancy nods before coming over to me. “We need to talk,” She says, grabbing my hand and leading me away from the rest of the group.

“What’s going on?”

“There was another person who was taken by the Demogorgon.” She takes a breath before saying, “It was Barb.”

I shake my head. “No.” The reaction comes before I’ve even had time to process what she’s telling me.

“It killed her.”

“No,” I say again. “Her… Her car was at the bus station.” That was the one thing I’ve been using for a year to convince myself that Barb is alive somewhere. “Why- How would it have-”

“The people from Hawkins Lab moved it,” Nancy explains. “To make it look like she ran away.”

“How did it happen?” I ask quietly.

“I don’t know exactly what happened, I wasn’t there.” Nancy seems to hesitate before saying, “I left her by herself so I could hang out with Steve.”

“And that’s why you’ve felt so guilty about her disappearance?”

She nods.

“It’s not your fault.”

“It is. I was being a bad friend, and-”

“And something that absolutely nobody could have seen coming happened.”

“If I had been with her-”

“Nancy, you cannot blame yourself for this,” I say firmly. “I’ve been watching you suffer for over a year, and it’s not your fault. Yes, you made a mistake. But your mistake is not the reason for Barb’s death.”

“It is.”

“If the Demogorgon found Barb by herself, it would have found both of you. And you would both be dead. That is the only thing that would have changed.”

Even though Nancy doesn’t argue, I know she’s still blaming herself. But before I can say anything else, she looks past me and says, “The power’s back.”

Everyone is immediately at the guard booth, trying to open the gate. Jonathan keeps pressing the button, but nothing happens.

“Let me try,” Dustin says, shoving his way into the guard booth as well. He sounds frustrated as he says, “Let me try, Jonathan.” A second later, he yells, “Son of a bitch!”

It takes a minute before we’re able to open the gate. Nancy and Jonathan immediately get into Jonathan’s car and drive toward the building in search of their brothers while Steve and I stay behind with the younger kids.

“So, Nancy told you about Barb?” Steve asks quietly.

I nod silently.

“Are you ok?”

“I kept trying to tell myself that Barb was alive. That she just ran away.” I pause before admitting, “But I think that deep down I’ve known for a while that something happened to her. And I just wanted to live in this fantasy world. I wanted to pretend that everything was ok.” I kind of feel selfish. Like I said earlier, I’ve spent the past year watching Nancy let the guilt over this swallow her whole. And I’ve been trying to convince myself that she’d been overreacting, simply because I wanted to be in denial.

“Nancy wanted to tell you. But Hawkins Lab made all of us sign a bunch of papers. If we told anyone anything…” He trails off, but I know what he’s saying. If anyone had said anything, a lot of bad things would have happened.

“You were going to tell me earlier, weren’t you?” I ask.

“I almost did. Back at my car.”

That had only been a few hours ago. It feels like a lifetime ago. “Why didn’t you?”

"Because Barb was your and Nancy's friend. And I thought that if someone was going to tell you about that, it should be Nancy.” When I don’t say anything, Steve goes on, “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you.”

“I’m not mad,” I say honestly. “I understand why you couldn’t. I just wish none of this was happening right now.” Better yet, I wish that none of this stuff happened last year.

Forty-five minutes later, we’re at the Byers house, scattered around the kitchen and living room. Most of us are silent, except for Jonathan, who’s talking quietly to his unconscious brother on the couch, and Chief Hopper, who’s yelling at someone on the phone.

I don’t understand exactly what’s going on, but on the way here, Hopper told us that Will has been “infected” by something from the Upside Down. It isn’t the Demogorgon, though. Will has been describing it as a big shadow. Whatever it is, it has control of Will, and now we have to keep him sedated until we figure out how to get this thing out of him.

I still can’t believe this is happening, but I’m living it. I know it’s real.

I’m sitting at the kitchen table with Steve, Max, Lucas, Dustin, and Mike, who is now with us. He had been in the Lab with the chief and the Byers.

“You really didn’t know about any of this?” Max asks me.

“No.”

“Not even when your friend died?”

“I had no idea she died.” I’m quiet as I add, “I still thought that maybe she’d come back.”

“What did you think happened to Will?”

“We all thought he got lost in the woods.”

“Lucas said that, but you have to admit that the story didn’t make sense.”

“It didn’t,” I agree. “But this doesn’t make much sense either.”

She laughs bitterly as she tells me, “I thought Hawkins was going to be boring.”

“Up until a few hours ago, I thought it was.”

“I guess we were both wrong.”

“I wish it would go back to being boring,” I admit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the lack of updates lately! My A/C stopped working last week, and since I live in Las Vegas and melt in any weather over 75 degrees, getting the A/C fixed was my first priority (and it took a ridiculously long time). But everything seems to be fixed, so hopefully, I can get back to regular updates.


	14. Chapter 14

“If anyone knows how to destroy this thing, it’s Will,” Mike says. “He’s connected to it. He’ll know it’s weakness.”

“I thought we couldn’t trust him anymore,” Max argues. “He’s a spy for the Mind Flayer.”

“He can’t spy if he doesn’t know where he is.”

Mike, Dustin, and Lucas have just finished explaining that whatever this thing that’s taken over Will is, it’s similar to something from Dungeons & Dragons. The Mind Flayer.

Will is the Host for the Mind Flayer, and he now shares a mind with it. That means that the Mind Flayer knows whatever Will knows. And if their theory is correct, Will knows everything the Mind Flayer does. Including how to kill it.

“Do you have a plan?” Hopper asks him.

“We disguise the shed.”

Hopper doesn’t say anything as he goes outside, and Mike follows him. A minute later, they come back inside. “Let’s get to work,” Hopper says.

Almost an hour later, we’re finished with the shed. We’ve taken everything out of it and covered the floor, the windows, and the walls with newspaper. Now Chief Hopper, the Byers, and Mike are out there, trying to get through to Will.

Everyone else is waiting inside, and no one is saying anything. I know we’re all wondering what’s going to happen if this doesn’t work and Will figures out where we are.

It’s not long before the lights start flashing, and when we look out the kitchen window, we can see the lights flashing in the shed as well.

When the lights stop flashing, we go back to waiting. After a few minutes, Hopper comes back inside with Mike, Jonathan, and Mrs. Byers following him. He sits down at the table and starts writing a series of dots and dashes.

“What happened?” Dustin asks.

“I think Will is talking,” Hopper says. “Just not with words.”

“What is that?” Steve asks as we all gather around the kitchen table.

“Morse code,” A few of us answer in unison.

We look at the letters Hopper wrote.

**HERE**

He sits back and looks at us. “Will is still in there.”

We quickly come up with a new plan. A plan to get through to Will and get the answers we need.

Nancy and I sit down with a walkie-talkie, a piece of paper, and a pencil. Dustin and Lucas find a morse code chart somewhere, and from the shed, Hopper begins sending the code Will is tapping.

“Dash, dot, dash, dot,” I tell Dustin and Lucas.

“C,” Dustin says after a moment.

After a moment, another letter came through.

Nancy says, “Dot, dash, followed by two dots.”

“L.”

We spend the next few minutes doing this until we’ve written:

**CLOSEGATE**

Before any of us can say anything, the phone starts ringing.

Nancy runs over to the phone and picks it up, only to immediately hang up. We all look at each other, and the phone starts ringing again. This time, Nancy rips the phone off the wall.

“That doesn’t mean anything, does it?” Steve asks. “That could be anywhere.”

Then the demodogs, which is the new name Dustin has for the baby Demogorgons, start howling. They sound close.

The younger kids run into the living room and look out the window. I grab Max and Lucas and pull them away from the window, asking, “Are you guys crazy?”

Dustin turns to me. “What?”

I pull him away from the window as I say, “The window is the first thing they’re going to attack. Especially if they see three kids pressing their faces against the glass.”

Everyone comes in from the shed. Jonathan and Mrs. Byers carry Will into a bedroom down the hall, and Hopper walks into the living room with a big gun he’d taken from the Lab, as well as a shotgun. When Jonathan comes into the living room, Hopper holds the shotgun toward him, asking, “Can you use this?”

“What?”

He obviously doesn’t know how to use it, but Hopper repeats, “Can you use this?”

“I can,” Nancy says.

I didn’t know that Nancy knows anything about guns, but when she catches the gun and aims it at the front door with the confidence of a trained soldier, I realize that I missed out on a lot last year.

Hopper and Nancy stand in the front of the group with their guns. Behind them is Steve with his bat, Mike with a candlestick, and Lucas with a slingshot. I’m in the back of the group with Dustin, Max, Jonathan, and Mrs. Byers. None of us have weapons, and I can’t stop thinking about how screwed the five of us are going to be when the demodogs get in. Because this isn’t an _if_ situation anymore, it’s a _when_ situation.

Max and I look at each other, and I’m pretty sure we’re both thinking that we made a mistake by getting involved in this.

We can all hear something outside now. Whatever it is, it’s making a lot of noise. A second later, a demodog comes flying through the window. But it’s not attacking. It’s not moving at all. Hopper carefully approaches it, his gun still aimed at it as he kicks its head, which rolls limply to the side. “It’s dead,” He says, sounding very relieved.

But the relief is short-lived when the bottom lock on the front door turns. We all turn back toward the door as the deadbolt unlocks. The chain slides out of place and the front door opens. It’s not something from the Upside Down that walks in, though.

It’s a girl.


	15. Chapter 15

No one says anything as the girl walks into the house. Besides Max and me, the only other person who looks confused is Steve. Everyone else looks like they know her.

Mike rushes to the girl and hugs her. After a moment, he tells her, “I called you. I never gave up. I called you every night for-”

“Three hundred fifty-three days,” She finishes for him.

“Why didn’t you answer? Why didn’t you tell me you were there?”

“Because I wouldn’t let her,” Chief Hopper says. Everyone looks at him as he asks the girl, “Where have you been?”

“Where have _you_ been?”

He doesn’t answer as he pulls her into a hug.

“You’ve been hiding her,” Mike says in disbelief. “You’ve been hiding her this whole time!”

Hopper looks at him. “Let’s talk. Alone.”

The two of them disappear down the hall, and the girl walks over to Lucas and Dustin, who both hug her.

I look at Steve. “Who is that?”

He shrugs. “I have no idea. I’ve never seen her before.”

“You saw the chain on the door unlock by itself?” I ask slowly. “Right?”

“Yeah.”

“Just making sure I wasn’t the only one.”

Nancy walks past us then, and I ask her, “Who is that?”

“That’s Eleven,” Nancy tells us. “She grew up in Hawkins Lab. She has telekinesis. She can also find people.”

“Find people?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen her do it before, but it’s kind of hard to explain.”

“So, she has superpowers?” Steve asks.

Nancy nods.

“Is there anything else we should know about any of this?” Because I’m getting pretty tired of finding things out _after_ something new happens.

“As far as I know, that’s everything. You guys are completely caught up now.”

As far as she knows? That’s not very comforting.

As Nancy walks off, Steve tells me, “You’re handling all this a lot better than I did last year.”

I look at him. “Did you freak out?”

“A little.”

“Well, I’m just focused on not dying right now. Once this is all over, I’ll probably start freaking out.”

Less than half an hour after Eleven’s arrival, she and Hopper leave for Hawkins Lab. Nancy and the Byers leave, too. They’re going to Chief Hopper’s cabin in an attempt to get the Mind Flayer out of Will.

Mrs. Byers pointed out that Will kept saying that the Mind Flayer likes things cold. So, the plan is to try burning the Mind Flayer out of him. The cabin is a place Will doesn’t know, and they’ll be able to turn up the heat as much as they need to.

Once the Mind Flayer is out of Will, Eleven is going to close the Gate she opened at Hawkins Lab a year ago, hopefully locking the Mind Flayer out of our world.

Steve and I have the much less exciting job of babysitting Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Max. As we walk inside, I ask Steve, “Are you all right? You’ve been quiet for a while.”

“Nancy and I are over.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I guess she just didn’t love me,” He says quietly.

“I’m sorry,” I tell him again, because it’s really the only thing you can say to something like that.

He looks at me. “Please don’t give me the whole pity act. Can you say something you’d normally say.”

“Ok,” I say with a nod. “Um, can you promise me that you won’t go back to being a jerk now that you and Nancy are broken up? Because I actually like being friends with you.”

Steve laughs. “I was pretty bad, wasn’t I?”

I nod.

“I promise I won’t go back to being a jerk,” He tells me. “I like being friends with you and Kennedy.”

“Steve, can you help me with this?” Dustin calls from the living room.

“I’ll be right back,” Steve tells me. When he comes back a minute later, he’s holding the demodog Eleven threw through the window earlier. “Can you open the freezer?” He asks.

I don’t say anything as I open the door, but Dustin, who’s behind Steve, still tells me, “We’re preserving my discovery.”

“I’m not even going to touch that one,” I mutter as I walk into the kitchen.

I’m helping Max and Lucas clean up the broken glass in the living room as Mike paces in front of us, and Lucas eventually says, “Mike, she’s going to be fine.”

“You weren’t there, Lucas,” Mike argues. “The Lab was swarming with those things.”

“Demodogs,” Dustin calls from the kitchen.

“Hopper’s with her,” I remind Mike. “He’s going to keep her safe.”

“Like she needs protection,” Max mumbles.

Steve uses some sports analogy, and I think he’s trying to tell us that we’re all staying here.

“Do any of us look like we know what you’re talking about?” I ask.

“This isn’t some stupid sports game,” Mike tells him. “And we’re not even in the game.”

“Right. And the point is…” Steve trails off as we all stare at him. “We’re on the bench, so there’s nothing we can do,” He finishes lamely.

“That’s not entirely true,” Dustin says. “These demodogs have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away.”

“So if we get their attention…” Lucas says.

Max looks at him. “We can call them away from the Lab.”

Mike nods. “And clear a path to the Gate.”

“That will make things a lot easier for Hopper and El,” I add.

“And we all die!” Steve shouts.

Dustin looks at him. “Well, that’s one point of view.”

“That’s not a point of view, that’s a fact.”

“I got it.” Mike goes into the hallway and points at a part of the giant map Will drew of the demodog’s tunnels under Hawkins. “This is where the chief dug his hole,” He tells us. “This is our way into the tunnels. This is like a hub. All the tunnels feed into here. Maybe if we set this on fire-”

“That’s a no,” Steve says quickly.

“The Mind Flayer would call away his army,” Dustin says.

This plan sounds crazy, but I have to admit, it also sounds like it could work.

Mike goes on, “We’d circle back to the exit. By the time they realize we’re gone-”

“El would be at the Gate,” Max says.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Steve shouts, trying to get everyone’s attention. When we all look at him, he says, “This is not happening.”

“But-”

“No.” He gestures between him and me. “Vivian and I promised to keep you shitheads safe, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. We’re staying here, on the bench, and we’re waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everyone understand?”

“Three things,” I tell him. “One, I never agreed to keep them safe. Two, I think you lost us with the sports talk again. And three, this plan might actually work.”

“Thank you, Vivian,” Mike says.

Steve glares at Mike and me. “I said, ‘Does everyone understand?’”

None of us say anything as we stare at him.

“I need a yes.”

Now we’re all glaring at him.

He looks like he’s about to say something else, but before he does, we hear a car coming up the road.

Max runs to the window with Lucas following her. “It’s my brother,” She says, sounding panicked. “He can’t know I’m here, he’ll kill me. He’ll kill us.”

“Stay here,” I tell her. “I’ll deal with him.”

I’m about to open the front door when Steve stops me. “I’m going with you.”

I shake my head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. You guys hate each other.”

“Vivian-”

“Trust me.”

He sighs. “Fine.”

Before Steve can change his mind, I go out onto the porch and close the door behind me.


	16. Chapter 16

I look out toward the woods as I walk over to Billy. I don’t like being outside when the demodogs could come back. I need to make Billy leave and I need to get back inside. Billy doesn’t say anything as he stares at me, and I ask him, “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“I asked first.”

Billy doesn’t answer my question. Instead, he says, “So, this is where you’ve been all day?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I called you earlier to tell you that I had to cancel our date, but Kennedy said you’ve been gone all day.”

Our date. I completely forgot about our date the second I realized that Steve, Dustin, and Lucas were telling the truth about Dart. Since then, my only focus has been staying alive. “I’m so sorry,” I tell him. “Today has just been…” I trail off, realizing that I can’t tell the truth about what’s going on. I’m not dragging anyone else into this.

“It’s been what?”

I don’t answer him. I don’t know how to explain this. Finally, I settle on, “I’m sorry. I promise that I’ll explain everything later.” Once I can come up with a lie that justifies me forgetting our date.

He laughs shortly. “Right.”

I sigh. “Look, I get why you’re mad and I don’t blame you,” I say honestly. “But there’s been a lot going on today. I had to be here. And I’ll explain everything tomorrow, but you need to leave _right now.”_

“I’m not leaving without Max.”

Before I can respond, a voice behind me says, “She’s not here.”

I sigh. It’s Steve. I have a feeling that whatever happens next isn’t going to be good.

“That’s not what I heard,” Billy says. “Small, redhead, a bit of a bitch?”

“I don’t know her.”

Billy looks at me. “Vivian does.”

I don’t say anything. I can’t lie. Not with him already mad at me.

When it’s clear that I’m not going to say anything, Billy turns back to Steve. “You know, Harrington, this whole situation is giving me the heebie-jeebies.”

Steve stares at him for a moment before asking, “Why is that?”

“My thirteen year old sister goes missing all day, and then I find her with you, in a stranger’s house, and you lie to me about it.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I say under my breath.

“Do I seem like I’m kidding?” Billy asks me.

“Unfortunately, no, you don’t. But none of this even matters, because Steve and I are the only ones here.” I don’t want to lie, but I don’t see another way out of this.

Billy stares at me for a long moment before saying, “You know, you’re not that bad of a liar.”

“I’m not-”

He cuts me off, and points behind Steve and me as he asks, “But if Max isn’t here, then who is that?”

Steve and I turn around in time to see all four kids ducking behind the couch. Now I _know_ that whatever happens next isn’t going to be good.

“Shit,” Steve mutters. He turns back to Billy. “Listen-”

Billy isn’t going to listen to anything Steve says. He shoves Steve hard enough that Steve falls on the ground. Billy tells him, “I told you to plant your feet.” Then he kicks him and walks past me.

I stand there in shock for a moment before I turn and grab Billy’s arm. “I’ll make sure Max gets home,” I say. “But you really can’t be here right now.”

“I’m not leaving without her,” Billy tells me. “I can’t.”

“Please just listen to me and go,” I beg. We’re at the front door now, and I stand in front of it as I say, “I swear to god, I’ll explain everything later. But you need to leave.”

“I’ll leave right now,” Billy tells me. “But only if you tell me why I can’t be here.”

“Fine. I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

“You know that’s not what I meant, Vivian.”

I do. But I’m trying to stall. I’m trying to buy time until Steve gets back up.

“Vivian.”

“I can’t tell you right now,” I say quietly. “I’m sorry. Max is fine, if that’s what you’re worried about, but-”

“If you’re not going to tell me, then move so I can go get Max.” When I don’t move, Billy grabs me by the shoulders and moves me away from the door before slamming it behind him.

When I try to open it, it’s locked. “Come on,” I mutter. When I try the door again and it still doesn’t open, I don’t waste my time knocking. Instead, I go back to Steve, who’s finally getting up. “Are you ok?” I ask.

He nods.

“Good,” I say. “Because he locked the door, so we need to find another way in.”

Steve looks toward the house. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing Eleven broke the window earlier.”

When we climb in through the window, Max, Mike, and Dustin are in the back of the house, near the kitchen. In the kitchen, Billy is yelling, “You are so dead, Sinclair! So dead!”

Steve walks past the other kids, comes up behind Billy, pulls him away from Lucas, and turns him around before saying, “No, you are.” And then he punches Billy.

Billy starts laughing, which I don’t think is a good sign for Steve. I’ve never fought anyone, but I don’t think someone is supposed to laugh after you hit them. “Looks like you’ve got some fire in you after all!” He shouts. “I’ve been waiting to meet this King Steve that everyone’s been telling me so much about.”

Steve’s only response is, “Get out.”

Billy stares at him, and for a moment I think that he might actually leave. But then he swings at Steve.

Steve ducks, swinging as he comes back up. He hits Billy again. Steve gets in two or three more punches, Billy laughing the entire time before he smashes a plate over Steve’s head.

Billy swings at Steve, and they end up in the living room.

I know this isn’t going to stop on its own. I know that Billy isn’t going to stop unless someone stops him. By the time I remember the sedatives Mrs. Byers took from the Lab, Max already has one in her hand.

She pushes past the rest of us and comes up behind Billy, sticking the syringe in his neck.


	17. Chapter 17

Billy turns around and gets up, not taking his eyes off Max as he pulls the syringe out of his neck. “What the hell is this?” He asks her.

Max doesn’t say anything as she takes a step back from him.

“What did you do, you little shit?” Billy asks before he falls back onto the floor, laughing.

How is he still awake? That stuff should have knocked him out immediately.

Max grabs Steve’s bat, which is laying on the floor in the living room. She grips the bat as she stands over Billy and says, “From here on out, you leave me and my friends alone. Do you understand?”

“Screw you,” He slurs.

Max slams the bat down between Billy’s legs and pries it out of the floor. “Say you understand!” She yells. “Say it!”

“I understand,” He mumbles.

“What?”

“I understand,” Billy says again before passing out.

Max drops the bat and gets Billy’s keys out of his pocket. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Hold on,” I say quickly.

“What?”

“We can’t go to the tunnels.”

“A few minutes ago, you were telling Steve that this is a good idea,” Mike argues.

“I still think it is. But we don’t have a way to get there.”

“Yeah, we do,” Max argues, holding up the keys.

“And who’s going to drive?”

“You.”

“I can’t, I don’t have my license.”

Dustin, who’s on the floor leaning over Steve, says, “There’s no way Steve is going to drive.”

Max shrugs. “Then I’ll drive.”

“You?”

“I’ve driven before.”

I bite my lip. I can’t believe I’m actually considering this. I look at Dustin. “How bad is he?” I ask, nodding toward Steve.

Dustin shrugs. “I don’t think he’s hospital-bad.”

I sigh and turn to look at the other kids. “You guys have to take Steve with you.”

“You’re not coming?”

“No. I’m staying here.”

“What are the other rules?” Lucas asks slowly.

“That’s it. But I think that we can all agree that the last thing that needs to happen is a rematch between Billy and Steve. If either of them wake up, it’s better that they’re nowhere near each other.”

The kids start getting ready to leave for the tunnels, and ten minutes later, they’re ready to leave. Dustin and I wake Steve up and get him out to the Camaro. He only wakes up long enough to ask us what’s going on, and I tell him he’s going to a farm. It’s technically not a lie, and he passed out again before he could ask any more questions.

Dustin gets in next to Steve and I close the car door as Max asks me, “Are you sure you’re going to be ok here?”

I nod. “I’ll be fine.”

“What if Billy wakes up?”

“I’ll deal with it.”

“Vivian, listen,” She says carefully. “I don’t know how he normally acts with you, but what happened tonight? That is the real Billy. That’s the Billy I have known for years.”

“I’ll be ok.”

When she realizes that she isn’t going to be able to change my mind, Max tells me, “Just be careful.”

“I’m pretty sure I should be saying that to you guys.” I know that this is probably a bad idea. I’m letting four kids and one unconscious teenager go fight monsters in a bunch of tunnels. But I know that they’re going to do this whether I give them permission to or not. “By the way, I need you to come back when you guys are done with this. We’re gonna need a way out of here. And I wouldn’t recommend bringing anyone else with you.”

“Hopefully I’ll be back soon,” Max says before she gets in the car.

It’s well past midnight and I’m sitting on the couch waiting for Max to come back when Billy wakes up. As he sits up, I ask, “What the hell is wrong with you?” I have so much I want to say to him, and that seems like the best place to start.

“Trust me,” He says with a sigh. “I know I-”

“How far were you going to go?”

“I would have stopped.”

“When? When he was dead?”

“I know that can’t be a serious question.”

“Well, it is. And I’m clearly not the only one who thinks you weren’t going to stop. Max decided that she had to drug you.”

“Why do you guys have that stuff, anyway?”

“That doesn’t matter. And you still haven’t answered my question. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“My dad sent me to find Max,” Billy says as he gets up and sits next to me.

And just like that, everything I want to say doesn’t seem to matter anymore. “Are you ok?”

“For now. But when I get home?” He shrugs. “And I’m not trying to use it as an excuse. I know that I fucked up. But I can’t go home without Max.”

“Well, she should be back soon,” I say. “And I don’t know what your problem with each other is, but you better make sure you’re over it before she comes back. She seems like she’s had it with you.”

“Where are things with us?” Billy asks after a moment.

“What do you mean?”

“Are we still together?”

“I like you,” I tell him. “I want this to work out. And I understand that your dad is… the way he is, and I know it’s not easy for you. But what happened tonight cannot happen again.”

“It won’t.”

Before I can respond, I hear the Camaro coming down the road.

Billy looks at me. “Is that my car?”

I nod. “I guess Max is back.”

“Max took it? By herself?”

I nod again.

“Where did she take it?”

I don’t know how to answer that, so all I say when I stand up is, “Let’s get out of here.”

He grabs my hand. “What was going on here tonight?”

“I can’t tell you,” I answer after a moment. “I know how that sounds, but I can’t. I swear that if I could tell you, I would. And I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need you to trust me when I tell you that what happened here tonight is over and it isn’t going to happen again.”

“That doesn’t tell me anything.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” I want to tell him the truth, but I think about what Steve told me earlier. I know that Hawkins Lab will do anything to keep this a secret, and I know that if I tell Billy what happened tonight, I’ll be putting both of us in danger. “I need you to trust me when I say that it’s better for you if I don’t tell you anything.”

Billy stares at me for what feels like forever before finally saying, “I trust you, Viv.”

“Thank you,” I say quietly. I hate lying to Billy. I hate being manipulative. But the less he knows about tonight, the better off he’ll be.

I grab his other hand and look up at him. “Please tell me this hasn’t made you change your mind about me.”

He kisses me before saying, “Not a chance.”

“Good.”

As we walk outside, Billy asks, “Should I take you home?”

I think for a moment before telling him, “Take me to your house.”

“What?”

“Just do it. And when I talk to your dad, you and Max need to go along with whatever I say.”

“Ok.”


	18. Chapter 18

When Billy pulls into the driveway at his house, a man comes out onto the front porch. Billy looks at me. “What are you planning, Viv?”

I bite my lip. “I have a few ideas,” I say slowly. I want to see how angry his dad is before I decide which lie to go with.

As the three of us approach the front porch, Mr. Hargrove asks Billy, “It took you this long to find your sister?”

“That was my fault,” I tell him.

He glances at me. “I’m sorry, who are you?”

I hold out my hand. “Vivian Weston. I’m Max’s tutor.”

Mr. Hargrove shakes my hand, looking at Max as he says, “I didn’t realize she was already failing any classes.”

“She’s not. But the curriculum here is a bit different than in California. The middle school asked me to help her get caught up. So, she spent the day at my house studying."

“It’s after one o’clock in the morning.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I take full responsibility for her being home so late. I was supposed to drive her home at seven, but my car wouldn’t start. My parents are out of town this weekend, so I couldn’t use their car, and I didn’t want Max walking home in the dark.”

Mr. Hargrove asks Max, “Why didn’t you call?”

“I did,” Max says. “Like, ten times. No one answered.”

Mr. Hargrove stares at the three of us, clearly trying to decide if he believes me. Finally, he says, “Perhaps there’s a problem with the phone. Our power was acting up a while ago. Maxine, get to bed.”

“Again, I’m sorry for bringing her back so late,” I tell Billy’s dad. “But would you mind letting your son drive me home? I live all the way across town. I just thought that it was important that I come here and apologize for keeping your daughter so late.”

Mr. Hargrove tells Billy, “Drive her home. But I want you to come straight home after that.”

Billy doesn’t say anything as we start walking back toward his car.

Most of the drive back to my house is quiet. I don’t mind, though. I’m exhausted. Of all the ways I’d imagined today going, I hadn’t imagined anything that ended up happening today. Billy breaks the silence a few blocks away from my house, when he quietly says, “Thank you.”

I look at him. “For what?”

“For lying for me. You just got me out of a lot of trouble.”

“You think your dad bought it?”

“I wouldn’t be driving you home right now if he knew you were lying.”

“Well, you don’t need to thank me,” I tell him. “I wasn’t about to let you get in trouble for something that isn’t your fault.”

Billy doesn’t say anything else until we’re at my house. Then he asks, “Are you sure you want to be with me?”

“Why are you asking me this?”

“You could do a lot better than me, Viv. I mean, what happened tonight? Believe me, that’s nothing.”

“We’ve already established that you messed up tonight. But-”

“You don’t get it. My life is a mess. And I don’t want to drag you down with me.”

“That is such bullshit,” I say after a moment.

“It’s not.”

"It is. And kind of insulting, too. I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions. And if I think you’re doing something stupid, I will gladly let you know."

Billy laughs quietly. "You promise?"

"I promise."

“You would be the first person to do that,” He says. “You’re just about the only person who isn’t afraid to challenge me.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. I’m surprised to find out that it doesn’t bother me. At least, not when it’s coming from you.”

I can’t help smirking when I tell him, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“So, I’ll see you at school tomorrow?”

“Not if I can help it,” I answer. “Hopefully my dad will let me stay home and I can catch up on some sleep.” It’s now nearing one-thirty, and all I want to do is get in bed and sleep. I feel like I could sleep for a couple of days. “My mom’s coming back from California tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll be able to use that as a way of convincing my dad to let me stay home.”

“I wish I was that lucky.” Billy kisses me. “I’ll call you tomorrow night, ok?”

“Sounds good,” I say with a grin. I go inside happy to put this night and its events behind me forever.


	19. Chapter 19

_November 5, 1984_

My alarm goes off less than five hours after I get home. I didn’t get much sleep anyway. Once I got into bed last night, I couldn’t stop thinking about everything I learned. I considered the possibility that I’m going crazy, but I know that it’s all true. I know that it all really happened.

The worst part is, I can’t talk to anyone about this. I can’t tell anyone about anything that happened last night. I’m going to have to go through the rest of my life keeping quiet about this, and knowing that is a weird feeling.

I get up and go downstairs. My dad is in the kitchen and I ask him, “Can I stay home today? So I can be here when Mom gets home?” I really do want to see my mom. She’s been gone for two weeks and I miss her. But I am also in no shape to go to school today and telling my dad why isn’t an option. My mom coming home just happens to be a convenient excuse.

“I don’t see a problem with it,” My dad answers after thinking about it for a moment. “Just make sure you catch up on any work you miss today.”

As if I need a reminder. I meant it when I told Kennedy that I’m not going to start slacking off completely. “I will,” I say before going back upstairs. I’m ready to get back in bed. My mom’s plane isn’t landing until ten, and she probably won’t be home for a couple of hours after that. Hopefully, I can get some sleep before she comes home.

Kennedy comes out of her room and asks me, “Where were you yesterday? I came back from the store and you were gone.”

I sigh. “Don’t ask.”

“Why? What happened?”

“It’s just a long, boring story. Steve needed my help with something.”

“Well, you can tell me on the way to school.”

“I’m not going today. My mom’s coming home in a few hours. My dad will probably let you stay home too.”

Kennedy shakes her head. “I have a big test in government today. I’m hoping I can get a D on it.”

“Way to aim high.”

“You know how I like to overachieve,” She says as she walks down the stairs.

I go into my room and get back in bed, hoping that I can stop thinking about last night long enough to get a few hours of sleep.

My mom gets home just before noon. I’ve been awake for an hour, and I’m watching tv when she comes in through the front door. I get up from the couch and hug her when she comes in. “Hi, Mom, I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” She says as she hugs me back.

“How was California?”

“It was good. How have things been here?”

“The same as usual,” I answer, which couldn’t be more of a lie.

“Really? Because your father told me that you don’t want to go to law school anymore.”

“I never did. That was Dad’s plan for me.”

My mom nods in understanding. She and my dad don’t agree on anything, and I’m not sure if they ever have. And while I love my mom, I wish she’d speak up about it once in a while. It would save Kennedy and me a lot of trouble. “Well, that’s ok,” She tells me. “Any idea on what you want to do instead?”

“Kennedy told me I’d be a good a chef, and I really like the idea of that. But I haven’t decided on anything for sure.”

“Well, you’ve got time. Did anything else happen while I was gone?”

“You have to promise to stay calm if I tell you.” My mom is one of those people who tends to get over-excited about things.

“I promise.”

“Well, there’s this guy,” I say slowly.

“Who is he?”

“He’s in my history class. He’s new, he’s from California.” I pause before adding, “And he’s my boyfriend.”

“And your dad doesn’t know?”

I shake my head. I already know that telling my dad that I have a boyfriend, especially one like Billy, isn’t going to be fun.

“Well, when you’re ready to tell him, I’ll be there.”

I grin. “I’m so glad you’re back.”

A few hours after my mom came home, I’m reading in my room when the phone starts ringing. It’s Billy.

“You must miss me,” I say. “School only ended half an hour ago.”

“I do miss you,” He says. “History sucked without you, by the way. We had a quiz and I couldn’t copy your answers.”

I laugh. “Are you sure you’re not just dating me so that I’ll help you pass history?”

“I have a whole list of reasons I’m into you, and I can promise you that getting a good grade in history isn’t one of them,” Billy tells me. “But that reminds me, we still need to reschedule our date.”

“Well, I’m not doing anything tonight.”

“Me neither. How about I pick you up at seven?”

My response is, “I’ll see you at seven.”


	20. Chapter 20

“You look amazing,” Kennedy tells me.

I look in the mirror. “You think so?”

“Of course! And I’m glad to see you finally wearing the dress I bought you.”

I’m wearing a light pink v-neck sweater dress that Kennedy gave me when she first moved in with us last year, and I say, “I told you, I love the dress, but I don’t look good in dresses.”

“That’s ridiculous. You look good in anything. We both do. It’s probably a genetic thing.” When I don’t say anything, Kennedy asks me, “Are you nervous?”

“Yeah,” I admit. “But it’s a good-nervous, you know what I mean?”

She nods. “So, does your dad know about tonight?”

I cringe. “I made my mom tell him.”

“Can I give you some advice?”

“Sure.”

“Do whatever makes you happy. Life is too short to live for others. I know your dad is going to try to talk you out of dating Billy and he’s going to try to change your mind, but you can’t let your dad make your decisions for you forever.”

“Trust me, I’m done with that,” I say. I’m done with doing what everyone else wants me to do. It’s only been a few days since I told my dad I’m not going to go to law school, but I already feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. It’s a very freeing feeling, and I don’t want to lose it. I go on, “It turns out that you give some good advice. I am already loving this whole living for yourself thing.”

“It’s not easy at first,” She warns me. “Especially when you’ve spent your whole life doing everything everyone tells you. But trust me, it’s worth it.”

I look at myself in the mirror one last time before turning to Kennedy. “You’re sure I look ok?”

“You look great.”

“Thanks.” I sigh. “I guess I should deal with my dad before Billy gets here.”

“Good luck.”

When I walk into the kitchen, just as I expected, my dad has a million questions for me. And even though I try not to sound annoyed when I answer them, it’s getting hard to do.

“How long have you been seeing this boy?” My dad asks me.

I lean against the kitchen counter as I answer, “He only moved to Hawkins last week.”

“So, you don’t know him very well?”

“He’s my history partner. We’ve spent a lot of time working on the project together.”

My mom tells my dad, “Vivian told me all about this boy. He seems very nice.”

Before he can reply, the doorbell rings. “I’ll be right back,” I say, walking out of the kitchen.

I open the front door, and Billy is standing on the front porch. He stares at me for a moment before saying, “Wow.”

“That’s a good wow, right?”

“You look beautiful,” He tells me.

“Thank you,” I say with a grin. “I’m sure you know that you look just as good.”

“I know l do, but I still like to be told.”

“Of course. And you do.” I pull him inside as I say, “My parents want to meet you. But my mom promised me that she’d make it quick.”

“Don’t worry, parents love me.”

We’re holding hands as I lead Billy into the kitchen and say, “Mom, Dad, this is Billy Hargrove.”

My dad holds out his hand. “I’m Vivian’s father Victor.”

Billy shakes my dad’s hand, then my mom’s as she introduces herself as Kristy. My parents ask Billy a few questions about himself before my mom says, “Well, we won’t keep you two any longer.”

“I won’t have Vivian out too late,” Billy tells my parents.

“As long as she’s home by ten,” My mom says.

“I’ll have her home by ten.” Billy looks at me. “You ready?”

I nod. “Let’s go.” As we walk outside, I tell him, “I guess you were right.”

“About what?”

“Parents love you.”

He laughs. “I told you so.”

Half an hour later, we’re sitting in Enzos, which is about as fancy as you can get in Hawkins.

“How am I doing so far?” I ask.

“You’re doing good,” Billy tells me.

“Good,” I say. “Because I told you, I have no experience with dating, relationships, or anything like that.”

“I don’t have any experience with relationships either,” Billy reminds me. “But maybe it’s a good thing that being in a relationship is new for both of us. This way we can figure it out together.”

I don’t say anything. I’m too busy thinking about how lucky I am right now. I’m finally starting to do what I want with my life and I have an amazing boyfriend. It almost seems too good to be true.

Billy stares at me for a moment before asking, “What are you thinking?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re biting your lip. You do that when you’re thinking about something.”

“Guys notice stuff like that?”

He shrugs. “I mean, _this_ might have something to do with that fact that you look ridiculously hot when you do that, but yeah, guys notice stuff like that."

“I thought you only said it that one day to piss me off.”

“I told you, Vivian, if I'm complimenting you, it's genuine."

“You can call me Viv,” I say. “Coming from you, I don’t mind it. I actually like it.”

“What are you thinking, Viv?”

“I’m thinking about how lucky I am with the way my life is going right now,” I tell him. “For the first time in my life I am making my own decisions. And I’m on a date right now with a guy I really like, so that’s great too.”

“It does sound like you’re pretty lucky,” Billy tells me.

“I know I am,” I say with a grin.


	21. Epilogue

_December 15, 1984_

“I’m glad you’ve finally started listening to me about wearing dresses,” Kennedy tells me.

“Well, you know way more about fashion than I do.” I look at myself in the mirror, straightening my red sweater dress as I ask Kennedy, “Should I wear my black boots or my gray ones?”

Kennedy stares at me for a moment before saying, “Give the gray a try.” I get my boots from the closet, and when I sit down on my bed to put them on, she asks, “So, is tonight going to be… you know?”

I shrug. “It’s my sixteenth birthday. That’d be kind of cliché, don’t you think?”

“If you’re so worried about that, then why did you ask me for the key to my parents’ cabin?”

A couple of weeks ago, I asked Kennedy if she’d give me the key to her parents’ gigantic cabin a couple of hours outside of Hawkins. She was more than happy to give it to me.

“You know I’m the last person to judge anyone,” She goes on. “Besides, you guys have been together for over a month now, and I have to say, waiting that long is pretty impressive.”

All I say is, “I guess we’ll see what happens tonight.”

“And what are we telling your parents we're doing again?”

“That we’re spending the night at Nancy’s. She already agreed to cover for us.”

“Nancy seems like she’s been doing better since the truth about Barb came out.”

“She does,” I agree.

As it turns out, when Nancy and Jonathan disappeared at the beginning of November, they were in Chicago, telling the private investigator Barb’s parents had hired the truth about Hawkins Lab and what had happened the year before. They ended up changing the story, telling a bunch of different newspapers all over the country that Barb had died after there was a chemical leak from the Lab. Nancy explained to me that was because they decided that story would be easier to get people to believe than what really happened. And I have to admit, it makes sense. I wouldn’t have believed the real story if I hadn’t been there for everything in November. After the story went public, Hawkins Lab was shut down. I suppose the reason why doesn’t matter, just that it was. Besides that, Barb’s parents finally got some kind of closure.

As for what happened in November, I feel like I’ve been dealing with it surprisingly well. Eleven closed the Gate, so I’ve never really been worried about that. My main concern had been Hawkins Lab coming after us, but like I said, they were shut down. So, they’re no longer a concern either. Sure, it’s weird to know about this stuff and not be able to talk about it, but I guess that’s something I’m just going to have to live with.

I turn to Kennedy. “You still haven’t told me where you’re going tonight.”

“There’s a concert in Indianapolis that I’m going to.”

She sounds like she’s trying way too hard to be casual about it, and I ask, “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Promise you won’t freak out, ok? Because it’s not a big deal.”

“Sure, I promise.”

“I’m going with Steve.” She must see something in my face, because she immediately says, “Just as friends. Neither of us have anyone else to go with.”

I don’t say anything. For over a month now, Steve, Kennedy, Billy, and I have been eating lunch together every day. Even though I made Billy apologize to Steve last month, the two of them mostly ignore each other. Honestly, that’s the best I could have hoped for. It’s certainly better than them arguing. But Kennedy and Steve have gotten close since he and Nancy broke up, and even though I’ve asked Kennedy about it a few times, she keeps denying that anything is going on.

Kennedy rolls her eyes. “I know what you’re thinking.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” I say innocently. “I just hope that you guys have a good time.”

“You know, I’m happy for you,” Kennedy tells me. “You’ve been happier in the past month than I’ve ever seen you in our entire lives.”  
“It’s because I took your advice and started living for myself.”

“Well, whatever it is, I’m happy for you.”

“I’m happy for me too.”

Half an hour later, I’m in Billy’s Camaro and we just passed the sign stating that we’ve left Hawkins.

“If your aunt and uncle lived in New York, why would they have a cabin in the middle of the woods in Indiana?” Billy asks.

“They were both from Hawkins. They bought it when they lived here. They never sold it.”

“And Kennedy’s ok with us using it?”

“She gave me the keys, didn’t she?” I look at Billy, and he’s staring at me. “What?” I ask.

“I still can’t get over how beautiful you are.”

I laugh. “We’ve been dating for a month. You can stop with all the compliments, you already have me.”

“I’m just being honest.”

“I know that I don’t say this enough, but you are seriously the best boyfriend I could ask for.”

When we get to the cabin, as we walk inside, I ask Billy, “Are we staying in the same room?”

“Do you want to?”

I shrug. “I don’t mind.”

“You’ve come so far from the girl who didn’t even want to sit on my bed when all we were doing was working on a school project.”

“The same project that we got an A on yesterday.” I grin as I add, “And I’ve only changed so much because you’ve corrupted me.”

Billy laughs. “Which room are we staying in?” He asks as we walk up the stairs.

“The guest room at the end of the hall.”

“This is a fancy guest room,” Billy says when we walk into the room.

“This whole place is fancy,” I tell him as I set my bag down on the bed. “Wait until you see the kitchen. It’s even better than the kitchen at my house. I can’t wait to use it.”

“Are you sure you want to make dinner? I mean, you shouldn’t have to cook on your birthday.”

“We’re too far to go anywhere or have anything delivered. And I don’t mind. You do realize that I actually like cooking, right? That’s why I’m going to go to culinary school.” I’ve spent weeks thinking about possible careers, but every time I think of one I like, I still like the idea of being a chef better. So for now, that's my plan once I'm done with high school.

“I could cook, you know.”

“I love you,” I say. “But you are a terrible cook.”

“You love me?”

We haven’t said that to each other yet.

Before I can answer, Billy tells me, “I love you too, Vivian.”

I kiss him. “I love you,” I say again. “And by the way, I feel like we’ve taken things slow enough.”

“I thought you’d never say that.”

“Life is too short to live for other people, and I plan on spending my sixteenth year living for myself.”

“I want to be there for every second of it.”

“I couldn’t imagine it any other way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for Opposites Attract! I've already finished writing the sequel. I just need to finish editing it, but it shouldn't be too long before I post it. Thank you so much to everyone who read this story! I'm so excited for you guys to read the next one!


End file.
